


From Desire Comes Love

by DragonDreads (cjbage)



Series: Threesomes and Customs [2]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Adult Content, Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Drell Sandwich, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Interspecies Sex, Mass Effect Kink Meme, Mature Situations, Multi, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Oral Sex, Pseudo-Incest, Threesome - M/F/M, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 22:06:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4803956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjbage/pseuds/DragonDreads
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Kolyat approaches his Father after Thane and Shepard are married about an old drell custom he may get more than he originally wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *~*
> 
> Be warned this is a threesome story between the three of them. Though Thane and Kolyat do not have intercourse, since they are still Father/Son I included the Pseudo-Incest tag. They share a bed with Shepard, share a few touches over her but no sex with each other.
> 
> This is the first part of the story. There will be a continuation concerning the second part of the agreement between the three of them.
> 
> *~*
> 
> This story came about because of writer's block in my other stories. I went hunting for something in the ME Kink meme archives and found a few old prompts that caught my attention.
> 
> http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/4499.html?thread=12551571#t12551571
> 
> "Kolyat Femshep Thane Threesome, don't ask, or I will throw Feron. Actually; bonus if you do. Yes. So high off drellness. I don't care how it is done, as long as it is kinky.~"
> 
> There won't be any Feron added to this one, sorry.
> 
> *~*
> 
> http://masseffectkink.livejournal.com/6066.html?thread=27732146#t27732146
> 
> Drell follow a similar tradition to Levirate marriage (widow marrying her husband's brother) - Shepard, according to Drell custom, "belongs" to Kolyat.
> 
> Changed it a bit, added different details etc.
> 
> *~*
> 
>  **Standard Disclaimer:** Bioware owns all of the Mass Effect Universe, including but not limited to the recognizable characters. Any original characters are my own. There is no monetary gain from this work. All I am doing is playing around with their universe.
> 
> **~**  
> Please do not use my original characters in a different story unless permission is asked for and received.  
> Do not post this story in a different archive, forum, or mailing list. I post only on Archive of Our Own. If you like it please post a link to this page instead. Thank you.

* * *

 

 Kolyat stared at them from across the room. His father and his new wife, Commander Shepard. He could see the love between the two. The way their hands touched,  the way his father's arm would wrap around her and pull her closer. His eyes traveled over Shepard's body and he wondered what she looked like under her clothes. What her skin felt like. What would it feel like to bury himself deep in her body? To hear her moans and cries as he moved in her. He didn't notice Thane's eyes flick his way or see the way his brows drew together.

 

* * *

  
  
"Siha,  we must speak about something that has been preying on my mind lately." Thane leaned over Shepard as she stretched herself out on the bed,  his hand running along her side to her hip.  
  
"What is it?" She let out a sigh as his hand moved back up her waist to cup her breast.

"Hear me out Siha before you say anything. I am ... concerned about Kolyat. He has eyes for you. His pheromones spike with the scent of desire when he nears you. His eyes travel your body and follow you as you move. He wants to lay with you."  
  
"What are you talking about? He's your son. Now that we are married he's my step son. I think you're imagining things." Shepard gave a small laugh as she ran her hands over his chest and shoulders.  
  
"Shepard, I am not mistaken. He desires you. We need to talk about this." Thane's eyes looked down into her own. She searched his gaze finally realizing he was completely serious about Kolyat.

"Thane,  we are married. You don't think I would betray you with him do you?"

He smiled down at her, "no. I never once thought that. But there are several things we need to discuss." He laid on his side facing her and she rolled toward him.  
  
"Alright. I'm not sure what to do about it though. He's a kid and I guess kids become infatuated with things that they can't have."  
  
He let out a small laugh, "Siha,  you make him sound like a toddler looking into a sweet shop window. He is a full grown man of 20 years." He let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes. "There are customs of the drell that are old, dating back well before the Hanar came and brought our people to Kahje. I had not thought that they would become relevant as Kolyat doesn't adhere to the old ways closely." He rolled to his back and moved his arm to lay on the pillow under his head. "But you should hear of the customs in case he brings it up.  
  
Back when we lived on Rakhana,  before we destroyed our fragile system through ignorance, there were customs in place to ensure our continued population. These customs were kept known solely within the drell society, they were never written down,  just passed from history keeper to history keeper down the generations. During times when our population would fall through wars or natural disasters we would need to bring children into the world."  
  
He drew up his leg,  his foot resting on the bed. "There were married couples chosen for what was called, _Sahamathia_." He cleared his throat, "the married couple would invite another to their bed in the hopes of rapid impregnation. No immediate blood relations to the female,  so no father and daughter, son and mother,  brother and sister, could participate. In the families that had no other male to join them or were not comfortable with or attracted to the other members, they would choose a male that had given his prior consent to the joining. At times going outside of their immediate clans. Over time that changed, no longer was it something just reserved for those times. If both of them consented and found someone they were comfortable with they could invite him or her,  as it now stands, still holding to the mandate of no close blood. It became more of an act of pleasure than procreation."  
  
"This is a bad joke right? I mean, open marriages are nothing new. But please tell me you are not thinking of letting Kolyat into our bed." Shepard shifted,  sitting up in the bed, drawing up the sheet to cover her chest.

He took a breath letting it out slowly as he shifted,  sitting up next to her. "If we did let him join us for _Sahamathia_ it would make the next part of what I have to say easier for you to deal with." She looked at him, his head was tipped back and his eyes were closed. His breaths coming slow and shallow.  
  
"Shepard,  you know I love you. You are my Siha,  my second chance. You made me the happiest male in the galaxy when you agreed to marry me. Since we were married by both human and drell ceremonies the custom I am going to tell you about could be put into effect. The drell have something called, _Tainia_. The closest thing the humans have would be similar to levirate marriages mentioned in some of your ancient religious texts. Though in my society it would not necessarily be my brother that would be married to you after my death. We could chose which of the available Krios males that would take my place as your husband. If we bring in Kolyat,  we could name him as such. And at my death he would be ready to step in as your husband. You would both be comfortable with each other and I would know you to be taken care of by someone you knew and enjoyed being with after I have crossed the sea."  
  
Shepard stared at him with her mouth open,  then threw off the covers,  grabbed up her robe and walked quickly through the bedroom and into the bathroom. He heard the shower start a few minutes later.

 

* * *

  
  
Shepard stood in the shower, the water running over her while she leaned on her forearm against the wall. This was crazy. Why hadn't Thane told her of this before they married? He couldn't possibly be thinking of bringing Kolyat into their bed, this had to be one bad joke or a nightmare. She turned off the water and dried off, she looked up into the mirror over her sink. She shook her head,  there was no way she could do it.  
  
Thane wasn't in the bed any longer nor was he in the bedroom. She walked to the top of the stairs and looked out over the railing, a light was on in the kitchen and she lightly jogged down the stairs. He was sitting on one of the stools,  fully dressed in a set of his leathers and a steaming cup of tea sitting in front of him. His head was in his hands as his elbows rested on the bar in front of him.  
  
"Thane?",  she called out softly.

His body tensed slightly before he looked up at her. "Yes, Siha?" His voice was low and his tone flatter than what she had ever heard from him before,  even when he was hiding how much pain he was in during one of the missions and had gotten hurt. She looked closely at him, his eyes wouldn't meet hers and he seemed to still be tense.  
  
"Are you planning on going somewhere?" She rubbed her hands down her robe covered abdomen.

"I wasn't sure if you would still want to continue the marriage after you heard what I had told you. The way you just left...." He dropped his hands to around the mug,  lifting it to take a small sip.  
  
"Of course I want it to continue,  I love you. But why didn't you tell me this before we got married?" Shepard sat on the other stool and waited for an answer.

"Because Siha, it wouldn't have even been brought up if Kolyat didn't feel the way he does. I wouldn't have said a word.  But should he approach me about either custom I wanted you to have the knowledge beforehand about what to expect. If he brings it up we will all need to sit down and speak,  I didn't want you to find out at that moment. This is all assuming he will say something. As I said earlier,  he doesn't follow many of the old ways."  
  
"Maybe he doesn't even know about them,  so we won't have to worry about it."  
  
He folded his hands over his cup, "he knows, Siha. All drell are told of the customs of our people. It is up to the individual to chose if they follow the old ways or not." He shifted on the stool, "he has yet to say anything so it is possible he never will."

She stood up from her stool and brushed a hand along the back of his head. "When you are done your tea come back to bed, there is no reason to worry over this. I guess we will have to cross that bridge if it comes to it."  
  
"Alright, Siha,  if that is your wish." He picked up his cup and started coughing slightly before taking a sip from it. She worried at her lower lip as she approached the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

 

 

Thane had just returned from the hospital and his daily lung treatment when there was a chime at the door. The surveillance cameras showed it was his son. He closed his eyes and took a shallow breath then pushed the access button to let Kolyat enter the apartment. "Welcome, Kolyat."  
  
"Thank you, Father. I have come to see how you are doing and to discuss something with you." Kolyat stood straight and followed his father to the living room,  taking a seat where Thane indicated.

"I am doing as well as can be expected, Kolyat. My treatments are progressing,  as is the Keprals." He let out a sigh of relief as he sat, his legs had started to tingle which usually signaled the circulation had lessened to his extremities.  It was usually the worst after the treatments, but he knew all too soon it would become almost unbearable.  His time on this side of the sea was becoming shorter; faster than what he now wanted.  He wanted more time with his son and wife,  yet he knew it was not to be.  
  
"What is it you wanted to discuss, Kolyat?" He asked the question already knowing what it would be and dreaded hearing it from him. But also in a way he was filled with a sense of relief. If Shepard would agree to it he could make sure she was taken care of and if things worked the way he prayed, both of them would fall in love after he was gone and be happy together. But Shepard was human,  one that had a fierce and faithful heart. Her views were different and inevitably it would be up to her to decide.  
  
Kolyat shifted in his chair then leaned back a little and crossed his arms over his chest, "it's about Shepard. I am asking for you both to consider me for _Sahamathia_."  
  
Thane let out a breath as he studied his son. "She is human,  Kolyat,  one that hold to her vows tightly. She may view it as adultery. A serious offense in her eyes."  
  
"I understand, Father. But this is a formal request. I wish to set the meeting to discuss this when she returns to the Citadel." Kolyat wasn't going to give up,  he was attracted to her, wanted her. His body desired her.

Thane looked at his son, studied him for long moments. "Know this, Kolyat. If she agrees to the _Sahamathia_ then you must acknowledge and agree to the _Rite of Tainia_. Once you have so much as kissed her,  touched her in anyway as a lover,  you will not stray to another but remain faithful. You will seek no others bed nor bring another to yours. Do you still wish me to bring this up to her? Do you still wish the meeting?"  
  
Kolyat closed his eyes and sat still for several minutes deep in thought. The pleasure that could be found through _Sahamathia_ was different than pledging his life to her. If it was awkward or dissatisfying then he would be stuck being married to her, without the ability to find another,  unless she would agree to the _Sahamathia_ with another woman. From what his Father had said he sincerely doubted she would look kindly on being asked that right after she had to put aside her own feelings on the subject to accommodate him once already.  
  
"I will agree to it only if we find pleasure in each other. I will not agree to it if either one of us finds it unsatisfactory. I will not be tied into such a marriage, and neither should she." Kolyat leaned forward and stared at his Father who was thinking hard.

"If you find completion with her then the agreement is sealed. You must be be willing to try to pleasure her as well, not just take her to find your own and then say she was not satisfied with you. You will do everything you can to bring her to orgasm,  be warned it is not always easy. She delays herself to bring me more pleasure than I have ever known and will most likely do the same with you. If this is agreeable then you will remain untouched by another until the time of the meeting, if it is agreed to then you will be under the restrictions I mentioned earlier. Of course if she declines you are free from any further restrictions nor are you bound to the Rite."  
  
Kolyat stood up and paced. His father wouldn't give up with the _Tainia_. He realized it was more for Shepard than anything. His father was dying and loved her, wanted to make sure she was not alone after he was gone. "Are you sure she wouldn't want another to wed after you are gone?"

Thane let out a quiet laugh. "She wouldn't have agreed to a relationship let alone marriage if she was in anyway doubtful of her feelings." He paced more then stood in front of the holo fireplace staring into the heat-less flames.

"Agreed. If she consents to the _Sahamathia_ and we come to find pleasure in each other then I agree to the _Tainia_. I will remain untouched from this moment until the meeting,  beyond that if she agrees to it. I will come to the bed as pure as possible from prayer, abstinence with others and remain faithful to her as if we are already wed."  
  
Thane stood and moved to his son's side. "Agreed. I will speak with her this evening and we shall set up a meeting for the day after she returns. If she is in agreement I will make the arrangements for the Tofi dinner. You will need to stay here afterward as long as she is on the Citadel. You can always move in here, there is plenty of room and I would like to have you nearby in any case." He smiled at his son when Kolyat turned toward him.

"You don't think she would mind or feel awkward if she doesn't agree to it?"

Thane looked into the flames, "no,  she has been wanting me to spend more time with you while she is gone. It will work to your advantage during the meeting if you agree to stay here,  to spend time with me."  
  
Kolyat thought a moment, "when you speak with her mention it. Notify me as soon as possible, either way. If she agrees for us to join, I will bring my things the night of the Tofi dinner. But during the time she is on the Citadel I expect to share her bed, not sleep in a separate room unless I am asked for."

Thane frowned, "the first night home I would like to make love with my wife, Kolyat. Alone. To have her just for myself."

Kolyat nodded, "I understand Father and it will be so. If you wish,  that evening I can stay in a hotel."  
  
"We shall see. This all depends on her." Thane returned to his chair,  still deep in thought. Kolyat stayed for a while longer and talked about what he had been doing for C-Sec then left.

* * *

  
  
After Kolyat left Thane went to the office and activated the terminal. His extranet searches proved fruitful when he found what he was looking for. If Shepard agreed with the _Sahamathia_ he would ensure they both found pleasure in each other, even if he had to resort to special ingredients in their food and heady scents that heightened sexual awareness. He would not let this chance for him to do one last thing to ensure she and his son were together before he left them alone slip away.  
  
It would also act to relax Shepard,  even if she agreed to do it, she may be too tense to let herself go. Thane couldn't ... no,  wouldn't take that chance. He placed the order for various candles and specific incense. He navigated to a separate store to order the necessary spices and herbs to mix into their food.  
  
He let out a sigh,  his mind drifting back to the days when he was taught about such things in the guild. How to use them to attract his special targets.

* * *

  
  
Thane waited until Shepard accepted the vid comm request. He smiled as she answered, looking tired but happy to see him. They spoke of what was happening, she told him she had found Mordin and he was still as excitable as ever but hadn't gone into retirement as he had once mentioned. Several minutes later he looked down then back up at her. "Siha, Kolyat has requested a meeting with us. He wants us to consider the _Sahamathia_ ,  and for him to be the one we choose. I told him the meeting will be set for the day after you arrive home." He started to cough and turned away from the screen, taking a handkerchief from inside his pocket to blot away the small flecks of blood from his mouth.  
  
She waited anxiously until he turned back to the screen, "has there been any updates to your treatment?"

He slowly shook his head, "no, Siha. Even if there was I do not think they would work for me. I have already far outlived the doctor's expectations and to be honest it grows worse. This is hard for me to say as it is for you to hear,  but please,  consider accepting the request."  
  
"I don't know, Thane. I don't think I could commit adultery." She worried her lip.

"Shepard, it is not considered adultery in my society, as long as everyone acknowledges it and agrees. I will be there as well,  with my full acceptance and participation. There is one more thing, Kolyat has agreed to move in here,  into one of the spare rooms so we could spend more time together. He is in hope, as am I,  that you will look favorably on him for his willingness to do this for me. He also is willing to stay in a hotel when we want to be alone, if it is necessary."  
  
She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "We will be arriving on the Citadel in two days. We'll be there for several days as we need to restock and get some items for Mordin. We can discuss it more when I get there."

Thane gave a slight bow, "as you wish. I will let Kolyat know. Dinner the following evening for the three of us followed by the meeting. He will acknowledge his willingness to join with us and we will accept, should you agree to it. Should you decline, we will tell him then. Afterward there will be no more said on the matter."  
  
"I will also explain to you in more detail of what you will need to expect if we accept,  so you can be prepared. I love you,  my Siha,  I shall await your arrival."

She smiled at him, "I love you as well." She blew a kiss his way before the comm shut off.  
  
Shepard didn't sleep well that night nor the next,  her mind too full about what Thane was asking of her,  about his declining health and about Kolyat.


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

 

 

Thane met her at the docks, enfolding her in his arms before placing a tender kiss on her lips. A more intense show of affection would wait until they were in the apartment. They walked hand in hand to the transport terminal, Shepard telling him about some of the missions,  about what she had witnessed during them. He told her about the latest test results,  about Kolyat accepting the request to move in, but wanting to wait until after their meeting to make it official.  
  
When they arrived home neither one wasted any time, they made their way to the bedroom where they removed each others clothing and slid into the bed. Thane's hands seemed to be everywhere at once, his lips and tongue traveling down between her breasts,  stopping long enough to run over one of her peaked nipples causing a groan to escape her.  
  
Her hands were stroking his head and arms for as long as she could then moving to above her head,  grasping the slots in the headboard and arching her back as his mouth reached her center. A quick flick of his tongue along her seam before shifting to move between her legs,  widening them further as he buried his face into her. The heady scent and taste of her was driving him crazy, she was grinding into his mouth as he stabbed his tongue deep inside her. When she started to shake as she neared her climax she called out his name. He gave one last lick before moving to take her mouth with his. Sliding his cock into her with mingled groans. His slow and easy thrusts driving into her brought her close once again before her hands pushed on his shoulders and they rolled.  
  
She raised herself and came down on him with a twist of her hips causing a moan to come from him. His hands moving from her thighs up to her breasts, "Siha, faster." His head was arching into his pillow as his hips thrust up into her. Her pace quickened and he felt his testicles tighten,  he was going to come before her if he wasn't careful. He reached down and stroked her clit with his thumb,  flicking it in rhythm to his thrusts. One last hard thrust into her and he came,  spilling himself deep even as he continued to stroke that little nub. The last throb of his cock during his release came with the clamping of her muscles around him as she let herself go,  milking that last drop from his body.  
  
He closed his eyes concentrating on regulating his breathing, on not coughing. He felt her lean over him, careful to not put any weight on his chest and kissed him before moving to his side and cuddling up against him. They both fell into a light doze waking a few hours later to the announcement of an incoming vid call from a copy of Glyph's VI.  
  
Thane put on a pair of lounge pants while Shepard went into the bathroom. "Connect the call, Glyph."  
  
Kolyat's face appeared on the wide holo screen in the bedroom. "Good afternoon, Kolyat. How is your work?"  
  
"Hello, Father. Work is as it always is in C-Sec, boring on most days. We had several incidents this past few days though so it wasn't as bad as usual. Did Shepard make it to the Citadel yet?"  
  
"Yes,  she made it a few hours ago. We have yet to discuss your request in detail." Thane noticed Kolyat's gaze flick toward the mussed up bed behind him.

"I see. How is she doing?"

Thane gave him a slight smile, "she is well. She will be out of the bathroom in a few minutes if you wish to speak with her." He moved a bit closer to where the bathroom was and heard the shower start. He let out a short laugh, "then again the shower just started, so you may need to wait until tomorrow."  
  
Kolyat let out a laugh of his own, "has she given any indication that she is going to agree to it?"

Thane shook his head. "No, Kolyat,  she has not. She did agree to think about it so she has not flat out refused."

  
"That is something at least. I will be there for dinner tomorrow evening, I'll bring a small bag with me. The rest of my belongings will be delivered the following day, the furnishings will be going to a second hand store so you don't need to worry about finding a place to put them."

Thane gave him a small bow before glancing back at the bathroom door. "Kolyat,  bring her a gift of chocolate. A delicate morsel from the _Cocoa Cauldron_."

Kolyat's brow raised and he gave a smile. "I shall see you tomorrow evening then. Thank you, Father. Tell Shepard I said hello."

 

* * *

  
  
Thane redressed and headed downstairs,  the water coming to a boil for his medicinal tea as Shepard came down the stairs. She kissed his cheek frill then grabbed one of the bottles of Spiced Apple Ale from the cooler. "Kolyat asked me to tell you hello and that he will see us tomorrow evening." She let out a small grunt and sigh as she settled on the bar stool. As the tea was brewing he pulled out several boxes from the cooler and placed them in the warming unit.  
  
"He still wants the meeting then?" She drank from her bottle after she had seen the nod of his head.

"Yes, he is insisting on it." She opened the container he placed in front of her and waited for him to sit beside her before starting to eat. "Tomorrow evening,  he will present himself to us. Tell us why he wants to be considered to join us. If you accept we will have what is called a Tofi dinner the next evening. I will make it for the three of us. It is more of a ritual, the foods and drink chosen specifically for the occasion. Afterward he will join us in the bedroom and consummate the arrangement with us. From that point he can either return to his room or stay with us in ours. If he stays he may want to take you several times that night."  
  
She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. "You're really alright with this? With someone else having sex with me when we are married?"

He wiped his mouth on a napkin. "Siha,  I know you are struggling with this. It is part of drell society. I will agree to having Kolyat join us, there will be no others,  he will be the only one that I would ever agree to. This is a private matter and will not become public knowledge past the filing of the _Tainia_ documents. This will not change the way I feel about you. I love you and am secure in the knowledge that you return that love."  
  
She sat eating silently for a few minutes, "did you and Irikah do this as well?"  
  
"No. She never brought it up and I would have had to deny her. I was away for long periods of time. Much greater lengths of time than you ever are. At times it was close to a year. The _Sahamathia_ is for a couple to bring in a third to be with them. Not for someone to be a replacement for one of them."  
  
Shepard dumped her empty container and bottle into the recycle unit and leaned on the counter. "What happens if I am gone for months?"

He looked up at her, "what do you mean?"  
  
"If I am gone for months will another be brought in? Will Kolyat withdraw from this? You know things are getting bad out there, I won't be able to spend very much time here on the Citadel."

Thane stared at her. "Siha,  there will be no one else brought in,  male or female. And if he wishes to withdraw he can, although I doubt he would." He watched as she chewed on her lip. "Shepard, what is bothering you?"  
  
She pushed off from the counter and walked to the living room dropping onto the couch. "I am unsure. This whole thing,  just feels ... wrong."

He sat beside her,  taking her hand in his. "Do you not find him attractive? Are you worried about not pleasing him or vise versa? Are you still worried that I will not love you the same if you let him take you?"  
  
She leaned her head back and scrunched down further on the couch. "He is attractive, I can't deny that. My main concern is about us. This sort of thing can cause significant damage to a relationship."

He turned a bit to face her, "this will not harm our marriage. Please believe that. I will be blunt with you Shepard. I want you to agree to this. I want to be able to go to my death knowing that I found a way to leave you with someone safe and secure. That I was able to give you a chance at happiness after I am gone. He may be young,  he may have been irascible when we stopped him a year ago from becoming a hit man,  but he will take care of you."  
  
He cleared his throat and shifted on the seat a bit. "To be honest,  it excites me to think of watching him with you. To see your hands on him as he moves in you. I want to hear what you both sound like as you moan together,  the gasps that you will give as he pleases you. I have never been with more then one person at a time,  this will be a new experience, a new memory."  
  
"You're a perv," she gave a laugh and relaxed a bit.

He gave a shrug and smiled at her. "I want as many experiences with you as I can. This will be a completely new one."  
  
"And what happens if we don't feel comfortable or like it during or afterward?" She rubbed her thumb over the small scales of his hand.

"Then we talk to each other, if we just can not move past it then we dissolve the agreement with no repercussions to any of us and we do not mention it again."  
  
She closed her eyes and he waited. "You will be there?"  
  
"Yes, Siha. I will be there. If the time comes when I can not it will be up to the two of you to discuss if you want to continue that part of the relationship. He will honor it,  though once I am called to Kalahira's shores he will become your husband. The marriage is usually consummated within a reasonable time after the mourning process." He waited for her to think it through, then let out a small sigh of relief when she nodded and gave her agreement.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

 

 

She was quiet all through lunch,  sitting and twisting her wedding band and chewing her lip. He was glad he had gone ahead and ordered all those items,  they were going to be needed it seemed. "Relax,  my love. Enjoy your lunch,  if you need to talk we shall do so when we get back to the apartment." She glanced up at him seeing his watchful eyes on her and tried to eat,  her stomach in knots at what she was agreeing to.  
  
When they arrived back home he sat her down on the couch and waited. When all she did was continue to twist that ring he took her hand in his. "You are still unsure?"  
  
She shifted, tightening her grip on his hand, "I am worried. I know you said this wouldn't change anything but ... I am scared that you will come to despise me for breaking the vows."

He dipped his head so that his eyes met her downcast ones. "No, Siha. I could never despise you,  this is mutual. If I was uncertain of the depth and strength of the foundation of our love, I would not have agreed to even bring this to you. If you are still uncertain when the time comes simply say so, we will talk it through. It is one of the reasons for this meeting."

 

* * *

  
  
Shepard fiddled nervously with the buttons of her blouse. She didn't want to wear that leather dress that Kasumi had given her so had went shopping the next morning before Thane's hospital appointment. She ended up buying a silky blouse in a shade of dark purple with a black, slim,  short skirt to go with it. Her black pumps would finish her outfit. Thane stopped into a jewelry store insisting on buying her a new necklace and bracelet to go with it. Just a simple gold chain with an onyx teardrop and plain gold bangle was all he could talk her into choosing. Now she stood in front of her mirror. Her skin incredibly pale,  her palms moist with nervous sweat. And this was just a meeting,  how was it going to be the following night?  
  
Thane pulled out several of the candles he had ordered and placed them around the living room and dining area. Thick pillars of cream colored wax, with the calming scents of lavender and chamomile,  along with a special herb known for its effects for meditation and tranquility. He lit them then went to the kitchen making sure their dinner was coming along. He had a list of what he was needing to buy for tomorrow's dinner and would pick it up after his appointment so it was fresh.  
  
Shepard came down the stairs and he poured her a cup of tea as she sat on the stool and watched him puttering around in the kitchen. It had been a surprise to her that he was an accomplished cook and he took great pleasure in spoiling her with his creations whenever she was home. The door chime rang and Shepard gave a slight start then went to answer it.  
  
"Kolyat, welcome," she told him as he came through the door after giving her a slight bow.

"Hello, Shepard. It is good to see you. I hope you are well." He dropped his small duffel next to the stairs.  
  
"I am as well as can be expected, nothing serious at any rate." She led him to the kitchen where Thane was still cooking.  After their greetings, he was given one of the Ales from the cooler and sat on the stool beside Shepard.

"Shepard, I have brought you a small gift. For agreeing to speak with me after dinner tonight." He reached into his pocket and brought out a small wrapped parcel handing it to her.  
  
"Thank you, Kolyat." She gave him a smile as she pulled the end of the ribbon that was wrapped around the small box. The paper unfolded revealing a clear container with a small confection inside. A square of chocolate,  with flower petals surrounding it,  a perfect one sitting on the very top. "The petals come from a flower only found on a small edible flower farm on Thessia. They are harvested and shipped daily. Although apparently, the shipment they received today would be the last until after the war. I do hope you like it."  
  
"It looks wonderful, thank you." She tried not to pay much attention to how his eyes traveled over her face or dropped down to scan over her body. She got up to place the parcel into the cooler. She missed the look that passed between the two drell.  
  
The scents coming from the candles had started to finally work as Thane noticed his wife start to relax, not shying away from the looks that Kolyat had been giving her. Several times Thane saw her glancing up at his son then to him,  he gave her a slight smile each time their eyes met. When they were done eating they moved to the living room. The candlelight and flames from the fire reflected on the surfaces of the furniture, their scent filled the air and Shepard relaxed back into her chair.  
  
"Kolyat, please state your request for this meeting." Thane's dual tones came from where he was sitting in the slight shadows of the room,  he had turned the lights down sometime before coming in to sit down.

"I have come to request consideration for joining you in _Sahamathia_. I realize that as a human, Shepard may not know of the details and I would be happy to answer any questions she may have."  
  
"Kolyat,  you know I love your father, completely, with every fiber of my being. Why do you want this? Why us?" Shepard asked him as she shifted in her chair.

He leaned forward from his spot on the couch, "it is you, Shepard. For so many months now,  you are all I can think about. My body comes alive when I catch your scent. I am very attracted to you, I desire you. But I also respect you both highly, and wouldn't approach you in any way to cause dishonor. When you consented to also marry and follow drell customs I was overjoyed. It opened up a way to come to you both. I know you love my father,  it is good and natural that you do. He had been alone for so long. At first, I did not like the idea of him being with someone else,  but after I released the anger at him that I had since I was a child, I realized that was wrong of me."  
  
"You know what I am asking for?" At her nod he continued, "as for me, I would be staying here. Spending more time with Father and being here for you when you are home. I will expect to share your bed while you are on the Citadel. A concession for your first night home is understandable and I will of course not interfere with your reunion with Father. It is a special night for both of you. Whether or not one or both of us are given the gift of your body is up to you, but Thane will always need to be present to follow custom. I will sleep beside you at the very least."  
  
Thane cleared his throat, "when the time comes that I can no longer be present, I will leave it up to you both to discuss the details of continuing the custom. For clarification,  once this is agreed to and you find release with Shepard you will acknowledge the _Rite of Tainia_ ,  you will become her husband at the moment of my death."  
  
"Yes,  as long as she finds release with me, or at the very least shows pleasure at our joining. I will do everything I can to please her."  
  
She stood up and paced a bit, "this sounds so clinical."

Kolyat raised a brow and looked at his father before standing up and walking to her. "I know it sounds that way,  but this is how it works. Would you feel better hearing that I want to fuck you so badly that I can almost taste it? That my cock throbs with the need to be buried inside you. Dreams of you consume my nights and I wake wanting you.  Fantasies about you race through my mind as my own hand brings me release and I shout your name as I come. I had to masturbate before I even came here tonight,  just so my body wouldn't be quick to react to being near you."  
  
She looked up into his blue scaled face, his onyx eyes shining down at her, the firelight just bright enough for her to make out the dark blue-grey of his iris.  
  
"Enough, Kolyat. Please sit." Thane's voice came to them and Kolyat took a step back before sitting down again. Thane watched Shepard as she stood near the fireplace,  he could see her shaking slightly. "As for me Kolyat, as long as you keep your agreement for the Rite. That you honor her and stay faithful,  bring her no harm. I will give my agreement. You have remained untouched by another?"

Kolyat inclined his head, "yes, as I agreed to. Daily purification rites and meditation,  it is only her that enters my thoughts. Only her that I will allow to touch my body."

Thane gave a trill of acceptance. "The final decision is hers."  
  
"Of course, you have my bond. I will hold to the agreement." Kolyat gave his trill of acceptance. They both sat in silence,  watching and waiting for Shepard to come to a decision.  
  
"If I change my mind and just can not do this, will you still stay here to be with your father?" She asked as she walked back to her chair on shaky legs.

"Yes. For as long as he wants me to be."

She chewed her lip and glanced at Thane who was sitting quietly watching her, "neither of you will be mad if I say no?" Both of them shook their heads and said no. She took several deep breaths and then nodded, "alright. I agree."

 

* * *

  
  
They showed Kolyat to the other master bedroom where he placed his duffel, reminding them that the rest will be there the next day. Thane went back downstairs to load the dishwasher and to blow out the candles. Shepard was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. Thane had just made it back up to their room when she came out wearing the long black silk robe he had bought for her the last time she had come home.  
  
She slid it down her shoulders revealing the matching set of lingerie under it,  the black silk nightie with a white swirling pattern over it. "Beautiful,  my love." He walked over to her, running his hand over her waist and cupping her breast in his hand. A lingering kiss as his hand moved over her. He stepped back from her and turned down the sheets. "It would be best if I do not make love to you this night. I don't want Kolyat to have too hard of a time pleasuring you. He must be able to bring you to orgasm tomorrow night and I know how much you enjoy delaying your own to please me."  
  
She gave a sigh and got in,  watching as he removed his leathers,  hanging them up neatly. As soon as he entered the bed he turned toward her and pulled her against him. His hand bringing her own to his rock hard cock. "Wear the cream colored one tomorrow night,  his blue scales will look stunning against it as he moves his hands on you. The thought of your pale thighs open wide to receive him as he plunges into you brings me such excitement. I can not wait to see what it truly looks like as you orgasm with him deep inside you." A shudder ran through his body as she stroked him, "the image of you taking us both keeps coming to me. To see you between us as we take you, striving to bring you pleasure,  your lips sealed around me as I thrust inside your mouth and he thrusts deep into your hot core." He started to pant as she tightened her hand around him, stroking from tip to base, her other hand cupping the sac beneath.  
  
When she pushed him to his back he didn't resist. Her tongue licking up the side of his cock, "yes. Siha, I can see his hand on your hips holding you still as he pistons in you, I can feel your throat relax and take me deep as I thrust in you." His hips flexed and he slid between her lips going deep,  his hand going to her head and holding her as he thrust several more times before she took control. The wet sounds coming from her mixed with his groans and his gasp as he thrust into her and emptied himself in her mouth,  the feel of her swallowing around him was enough to cause a shiver to run down his spine as he came again.


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

 

 

Shepard cleaned the apartment several times as Thane set about making dinner for that evening. He placed candles in the bedroom that were designed specifically for enhancing sexual awareness,  to relax the people in the room. The incense sticks he put out in the room will fill it with a scent that would heighten attraction, and lower inhibitions. It should be enough to relax his wife and let her enjoy the night. He had ordered plenty in case more was needed later.  
  
Kolyat came home and took a shower before dinner, he dressed in a loose fitting tunic and cotton pants. Just before dinner was ready Thane showered and changed into a matching outfit. Shepard had just finished her shower as Thane was placing the food on the table,  he had added the herbs and spices to Kolyat's and Shepard's food just before bringing it to the table.  
  
She came down in a cream colored robe with swirls of gold, green and blue glittered thread embroidered on it. Both of the men stopped and stared as she walked toward them. "Siha,  you look beautiful." Both of them gave her a bow as she moved closer to them. Kolyat held out her chair for her then seated himself as Thane brought out the last of the food.  
  
They talked about Kolyat's work, about what was happening with the war and several other things before the dinner was done. Thane noticed that Shepard's pupils were slightly dilated and she was much more relaxed than she had been earlier that day. The herbs were starting to take effect on her, it was harder to tell with Kolyat,  but with the way he was looking at Shepard it was either the herbs or overwhelming desire for her that he was feeling.  
  
Thane left them to light the candles and incense while they had taken the dishes to the kitchen. After making sure everything was secure they walked up the stairs. Thane meeting them at the top of the stairs, wrapping his arm around Shepard whispering into her ear to relax and to enjoy herself as he led her into the bedroom followed by Kolyat. When they had reached the center of the room, Thane leaned in kissing her as he ran his hands down her arms. His fingers moved to the front of her robe,  deftly undoing the fastenings before moving behind her.  
  
Kolyat moved in front of her and glanced at Thane receiving a low trill before touching Shepard's face. Her eyes opened and she drew in a breath as he swiped a thumb across her lower lip. He cupped her jaw in his hand and leaned in, his lips touching hers gently, before his eyes closed and he deepened the kiss. Thane let out a purring sound from his chest as he watched them. When he stopped kissing her, Kolyat was breathing hard and took several steps back from her. Thane kissed her neck,  his hands moving to cup her breasts as they watched Kolyat remove his clothing.  
  
Her drawn in breath told them both that she liked what she saw. Not quite as defined as Thane was, Kolyat's lean frame was nevertheless muscled. His aqua blue scales lightened to a powdery blue over his abdomen. His stripes curving along his body,  angling toward his groin. Shepard drew her bottom lip between her teeth as she looked at him. Thick,  long and incredibly hard. Thane moved his hands to Shepard's shoulders and eased the robe from them baring her to Kolyat's gaze. She was in a short shift of cream silk, matching swirls covered it. She started breathing more rapidly as she saw Kolyat's cock twitch.  
  
She heard several hums and warbles from Thane as he once more ran his hand over her breasts,  her nipples peaking. Kolyat's gaze never strayed from what his father's hands were doing. A low whistling came from behind her and Kolyat gave a nod and a click. "He is magnificent, Siha. The way his body has hardened for you." Thane's whispers came to her, she gasped as Kolyat's hand joined Thane's on her body. "Look, Siha. The way our scales glimmer in the candlelight,  the way they look against your silk covered body." She let out a groan as Kolyat gave a gentle tug on one of her nipples as he had seen Thane do.  
  
Thane kissed the nape of her neck before slipping his hands down her waist and hips, sliding the slick material up her thighs. Kolyat's hands joined his as they eased up the fabric,  drawing it up and over her head. Kolyat drew in a hissing breath as she stood in front of him. His body resonating with a deep hum as he looked at her. "He is pleased with what he sees,  my love. You are so beautiful."  
  
He picked Shepard up and carried her to the bed,  carefully placing her in the center, he had removed the coverlet earlier so she felt the cool cotton sheets under her. Thane quickly removed his own clothing and laid on the bed beside her, Kolyat joined them on the other side of her. He watched his father as he licked and kissed his way down to her breasts,  licking her nipple before taking it into his mouth. He made sure Kolyat was watching as he moved his other hand down to between her legs, she let out a groan and arched her back as his fingers slid over her. "Kiss her,  Kolyat."  
  
His son's eyes were drawn from watching his father's fingers moving inside of Shepard. His own hand moved up her body, cupping her breast before leaning down to kiss her as she moaned into his mouth. A trill came from Thane as he watched them. A hum brought Kolyat's head up and he looked at Thane who held out his soaked fingers to him, "open your mouth, Kolyat. Taste of her." Thane spread her juices along Kolyat's lips before slipping them into his mouth,  a low groan came from him as his son sucked the moisture from his hand. He slid his fingers back out and wrapped his hand around Shepard's thigh spreading her wider.  
  
"Taste of her more fully, use your tongue on her. I will tell you how." When Kolyat shifted to between her legs, Thane let out a trill. "Spread her just a bit, that's it. Lick her gently along the sides and center, careful to not touch that little bundle of nerves too often. Draw it out." He gave a hiss as his son's tongue dragged up the side of her dripping center, a low moan came from Kolyat when she arched into his mouth. Thane leaned down kissing her as she panted and groaned into his mouth. "You're doing wonderfully, Siha. So responsive, your body so sensitive tonight."  
  
"She is getting close now,  Kolyat. Lick the tiny nub and remember her reaction."

Kolyat did as he was told,  Shepard's body arching off the bed a cry leaving her. "Now, Kolyat. Her body is ready for yours. Enter her slow, let her grow accustomed to your size." He watched as Kolyat moved up her body, widening her legs to accommodate him. Thane gave a moan and trill as he watched his son rub his cock along that quivering opening before pushing inside. Kolyat's moan and trill followed, his hands moving along her thighs,  cupping her hips and lifting her, sliding deeper. His head tipped backward and a hissing warble came from him as he hilted into her tight,  hot channel. "She is so tight, Father. So damp and it feels like an inferno around me."  
  
Thane moved up the bed further, his eyes not leaving the spot where his son had started slow thrusts into Shepard. "Nice and easy, Kolyat. Good, let her feel all of you." Kolyat leaned down, resting on his one forearm as she wrapped her arms around his upper body, her hands moving frantically along his shoulders and back. Her hips started to rise against his and Kolyat gasped.  
  
"Harder,  Kolyat," she groaned out and Thane gave a trill. Kolyat let out a growl and thrust harder into her, she arched her back again and let out a gasp. His thrusts became harder still as she ground against him. He buried his face into her neck,  licking and sucking at her skin as he started to pound into her.

"Keep going, Kolyat,  you're doing well." Thane's low voice came to him and Kolyat let out a groan as he felt his father's hand running over his head and neck.  
  
Thane saw Shepard start to shake, "she is almost there again, Kolyat. Rise to your knees, I want to watch your bodies coming together. I want to see you both as you reach fulfillment." Kolyat shifted, his arms supporting her legs as he tilted her and thrust into her,  the slapping of their flesh was heard above their combined groans. Thane swept his hand down her body, his fingers manipulated her as Kolyat thrust deep inside her. Several flicks and rubs of his thumb had her clamping down around a gasping Kolyat as her orgasm hit her and she cried out his name,  her body shaking.

"Father? What...is happening?"  
  
"She reached another orgasm, don't stop Kolyat. Ride her out." Kolyat started thrusting again, the rhythm becoming erratic until he slammed into her one last time, emptying into her. Thane let out a trill as he watched them shudder with their completion. Kolyat slowly withdrew and laid beside of Shepard,  giving her a kiss as she looked up into his face. Thane slid a small pillow under her hips and moved between her thighs.  
  
He thrust his fingers deep into her causing her gasp. "Open your mouth, Siha. Taste of my son." He slid inside her as his fingers slid into her mouth, his thrusts were rapid and erratic as she licked and sucked her and Kolyat's come off his fingers before he slid them back out of her, gripping her hips tighter. After several more hard, fast thrusts he leaned down, kissing her until his own body shuddered as he spilled deep inside her. He withdrew and moved to the other side of the bed.  
  
"The agreement is sealed between the three of us," Thane said as he met their eyes, he left the bed long enough to put out the candles before they all slid under the sheets and fell into an exhausted sleep.  
  
Kolyat woke her twice more that night, Thane's whispered instructions to him and her moans filled the night air.


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

 

 

Shepard let out a groaning hiss as she woke up, her body throbbing with the results of hard use from both of the drell that were still asleep on either side of her. She straddled Thane and slipped off the edge heading to the bathroom at a slow and slightly pained pace. She got a quick shower then turned on the hot tub after closing the door to seal in the humidity.  
  
Both of the drell stirred from their sleep. Thane propped himself up resting his head in his hand. "Well,  was she everything you imagined?"

Kolyat stretched, "she is more than anything I could have fantasized about, Father. Thank you for agreeing to this. And for teaching me how to please her."  
  
Thane let out a chuckle, "we are far from done yet. There are several more fantasies of mine that has yet to be fulfilled. We need to do some shopping after my hospital visit. She is here for a few more days yet." Kolyat turned toward him with a smirk on his face. Thane ran a hand up Kolyat's arm,  his hand gripping his son's shoulder firmly. "You will be satisfied with her as wife? You will cherish her and take care of her after I am gone?"  
  
Kolyat nodded, "yes, Father. That and more for as long as she'll have me." Thane let out a relieved breath and got up from the bed. The bathroom door was sealed so he went to use the other one. Kolyat propped himself up in the bed, falling into his memories of the previous night. Never had he felt so sated and satisfied. He wasn't sure at first about having Thane there, even though it was custom,  he was afraid he wouldn't be able to perform. But it felt right with the both of them. His lips turned up into another smirk as he wondered what his father had planned out for that night.  
  
The bathroom door slid open to reveal Shepard. "Oh, I didn't wake you did I?"

Kolyat shook his head, "no, Shepard." He threw back the sheet and got up, noticing how her eyes roamed over his body. He started to react to her as he approached her. Her face turned scarlet and she chewed her lip. He bent to give her a kiss, then whispered to her, "did I please you last night? Did you find enjoyment from my body? You were incredible." He ran a finger along her collarbone and felt her shiver.

"Yes, you did and I did like it. This is still difficult for me in the light of day. I'm sorry."  
  
He cupped her cheek,  his thumb stroking along her cheekbone, "nothing to be sorry about. I do understand that this is something not normally done in your culture."

She gave a light laugh, "open marriages is nothing new, Kolyat. But it is frowned upon when there are blood relatives involved or ones that live in the same household. In my culture you are my step son. What we have done is strictly taboo by humans."

Kolyat dropped his hand from her and searched her face. "I did not know. Why did you agree to this?"  
  
"Because I know how much Thane wants me taken care of when he dies. Because I know this is his way of helping both of us,  giving us both someone to turn to when we lose him. Not to mention he has turned out to be a perv and told me how much he wanted to watch us together. I love him with my entire soul and would do anything for him if it was within my power to." Kolyat could only imagine what it must be like to have someone that loved him as much as Shepard did his Father.

* * *

  
  
Shepard was at the docks overseeing the delivery of supplies to the Normandy and checking on the status of the specialized equipment that Mordin needed. At the same time Thane and Kolyat were in an adult variety store looking over the available items. Thane picked out a warming lube while Kolyat chose a small container of a sharp smelling paste. "It says that it creates a tingling and cooling sensation for a female. It also says it has a fresh minty taste. Think she'll like this?"

Thane tipped his head, "I do not know what a minty taste is, so I think the question would be,  would you like it?"  
  
Kolyat let out a sigh. "Wish they had sample sizes of some of this stuff." He slid the container back on the shelf and walked around looking at more items, the asari at the desk was following them both with her eyes. Thane stopped at a shelf that contained massage oils and roller bars. He picked up bottle after bottle scenting them finally choosing one that had a fresh floral scent and added it to his basket along with a bar. Kolyat tossed in a couple boxes of condoms and a tube of flavored lube.

"Cherry?" Thane asked him as he read the label.

Kolyat shrugged, "I had fresh ones a few months ago and enjoyed the taste. Hopefully this will be similar."  
  
Thane looked up as he heard a snorting laugh from Kolyat who held up a vibrator, little pearls were rotating and the object was moving around rapidly.

Thane smirked, "already have one. Siha calls it a Rabbit."

Kolyat cocked a brow at him before putting the toy back on the shelf. "Sort of on the small side isn't it?"

Thane laughed, "it has its uses and she enjoys it. You would be surprised at what my wife has hidden in her quarters on board the ship." Thane stopped as he started coughing.

"Father, are you alright? Do you need to go back to the doctors?" Thane shook his head, reaching into his pocket for his cloth to wipe his mouth, Kolyat frowned as he noticed the small stains of blood. "It's getting worse isn't it?"  
  
"Yes. It is why I am making as many memories of our family together as I can." Thane said,  his voice low so it wouldn't carry to the others in the store.

"Does Shepard know how bad it has gotten?"  
  
"No. We both know it will be soon though." They made their way to the counter and Thane insisted on paying for all of the items in the basket. They split it into two separate bags and headed home.

 

* * *

  
  
Thane rested as Kolyat put away the rest of his belongings,  carrying several sets of loose night pants and setting them on the chair in Shepard's bedroom. When Shepard arrived back he told her Thane was still asleep and they sat on the couch watching a vid until he joined them several hours later.  
  
"How are the supplies coming? Do you have an estimate of how long you will be able to stay with us?" Thane asked her as he stroked her hair later that night as they were relaxing after dinner.

She let out a small sigh, "we have most of it,  just finding some medical equipment that isn't being used is difficult. I think Cortez said he was placing an order from Sur'Kesh if this last request to the hospitals doesn't pan out. Depending on if they want us to wait for it here or if we could pick it up when we head back to continue the summit. If we are to head back I will be leaving the day after tomorrow. If we are to wait, well it could be another day or so after that."

 

* * *

  
  
That night Thane kissed his way down Shepard's back before applying his massage oil and roller ball,  she let out a throaty groan and Kolyat grinned at his Father. A warble and hum had him cocking his brow but reached into the drawer bringing out the small tube of warming lube and a condom. He watched as Thane's hand moved to her ass,  squeezing the globe gently. "Siha,  I want you to relax for me. We have done this before and I will be gentle." She looked back over her shoulder then at Kolyat.  
  
Kolyat was watching his father intently, seeing him coat his fingers with the lube. He let out a gasp as Thane started to slide his fingers into the tiny puckered hole. "You must be gentle here, Kolyat. Using patience and lube. Stretch her slowly. Do you see?" Kolyat nodded, his cock springing to life as he watched. Thane let out a trill. "You must wear condoms when you do this with her, it will help protect her and you." His finger slid in deep and he added another stretching her wider. Shepard was moaning.  
  
"It's so hot," her throaty moan came.

"Special lube, my love. Something I thought you would greatly enjoy." When he had her loose enough that his fingers were no longer finding resistance he pulled out, wiping his hand on a small cloth laying on the bed. "Roll on your side, my love and face Kolyat." She did as he told her,  her lip caught between her teeth and her cheeks a fiery red. Kolyat brushed his hand down her chest, plucking at her nipple before sliding down her abdomen, his fingers delving between her legs drawing out a gasp.  
  
Thane laid behind her, rubbing his condom covered cock against her as Kolyat thrust his fingers into her. He lifted her leg then guided his cock into that tiny hole. "Watch Kolyat,  make sure to use lube on the condom and slide into her in one slow,  smooth thrust." He let out a groan as he pushed inside her,  her gasps and erotic groans loud in the room. Kolyat was panting,  his eyes wide as he watched his Father's cock disappear into her ass. "Mmm, so tight, my love."  
  
He used slow careful thrusts into her. "Come, Kolyat. Move closer and enter her slowly, she can handle us both. Do not worry, my love. His cock is much larger than the Rabbit but I believe you will enjoy it so very much." He thrust in and held still as his son shifted closer, watching as Kolyat kissed Shepard, swallowing her moan as he pushed inside her. Both males hissed at how tight she felt and the sensation of feeling each other inside her. "Slow thrusts Kolyat until she adjusts."  
  
Kolyat was hissing and trilling as he slid in and out of her, never had he felt this before. All of them let out gasps and moans as his father started to move with him, Kolyat using his one hand on her breast as Thane held her leg up. "Faster,  Kolyat. I'm getting close." Thane pushed in as deep as he could go and watched his son take Shepard. He could feel him moving against him through the thin barrier that separated them. Shepard let out a scream when Thane flicked her clit with his thumb and Kolyat slammed in hard and deep as she came apart. Thane followed her with a hiss and groan. Kolyat thrust into her several more times slamming up into her as hard as he could before he too spilled inside her with a jerk and a groan.  
  
Thane slowly lowered her leg, causing all of them to groan again, and kissed her shoulder while Kolyat kissed her forehead then her lips. Thane ran a hand along her body cupping her breasts. He felt Kolyat ease himself from inside her. Several minutes later,  after he had softened a little he did the same,  careful of the condom.  Thane pulled Shepard up off the bed and walked with her to the bathroom, turning on the sonic shower, washing her clean. Kissing her and whispering how much he loved her and how he hoped she was happy and enjoying what they were sharing.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

 

 

The next morning Shepard was contacted by Cortez,  they were to pick up the equipment at the summit, a small salarian vessel would bring the items up to the Normandy when it came to the Annos Basin. She sent a message to both of the men let them know she would be leaving the following morning. Afterward she sent out a crew wide alert.  
  
Thane came home and rested a few hours, Shepard spent that time going over the details of the upcoming missions. Kolyat was working late that night so they ordered dinner and spent most of the time laying in front of the holo fire, their hands exploring each other. Thane eased himself inside her,  his thrusts gentle and slow. Their time together was limited and now she would be leaving again, always in the back of his mind was the thought that this may be the last time they were together.  
  
Shepard's hands traveled down his sides, her nails scraping against him, he let out a gasp next to her ear and thrust harder. His lips just capture hers when he felt her fingers grab his ass pulling him deep. She arched her back and her body shuddered,  tightening around his, milking him until he spilled in her. Their breaths mingled as he rested his forehead on hers. "I love you, Shepard."  
  
Several hours later Kolyat came home and headed for their bedroom, once inside he stopped and looked toward the bed where his father and Shepard were fast asleep, so closely entwined that he couldn't tell where one began and the other ended. He backed slowly out of the room and headed for the spare one to sleep,  to let them have this night together.  
  
They went with her to the docking bay, wishing her safe journey and promising to keep in touch. Thane kissed her deeply, for once not caring that others may see them. Kolyat gave her a kiss on the cheek telling her to hurry home that he would be waiting for her.

* * *

  
  
Almost two weeks had passed since they had heard from her. She looked so very tired, she told them there were so many problems and so many people wanted help. Cerberus was causing more issues and they were trying to stop them, as well as keeping the alliance between the turian and krogan moving along. She grew quiet as she told them about losing the Primarch's son. She let them know that she would be returning in another day, Hackett had sent her a message to go meet someone named Dr Bryson at a lab on the Citadel, he had information for her. Warning them it was only an overnight stop, they had received more messages to get to locations that were deemed important.  
  
The two of them made plans. Making sure everything was ready for when she returned home,  they wanted to give her as much time to rest and relax as they could. Kolyat placed the soothing candles around the house the next morning before he dropped Thane at the hospital then went to pick up Shepard at the docks. The area was packed with soldiers of many species coming and going to their ships, all of them haggard looking.  
  
When he finally saw the ship coming into the dock he stood up and weaved his way around the people standing around to get down to the outer airlock. He overheard many conversations involving Shepard and the Normandy as he waited for the doors to open. Many of them centered on her doing so much for the other species in between fighting the enemies and collecting odds and ends for people scattered around the Citadel. He didn't know how she kept going,  she had to be so stressed and completely exhausted. When the airlock doors opened he noticed it was Alliance crew members that were coming out, no sign of her ground crew or her yet. After another thirty minutes the airlock doors opened again, Mordin along with Garrus and several others came out,  Shepard tiredly following behind them.  
  
He pushed away from where he had been leaning against the railing and walked toward her, "Shepard. Welcome home. I've missed you,  as has Father." He  gave her a hug and kissed her cheek,  careful of just how far he went in front of the humans,  especially after what she had told him the last time she was here. "Father is still in the hospital having his treatment,  they have become more intense these past weeks. He will sleep for a while longer then he used to after getting home." He explained to her as he escorted her to the skycar he had rented for the day so they wouldn't have to wait for one at the transit terminal. "Did you want me to take you back to the apartment or would you like to come wait with me at the hospital."  
  
"I'll come to the hospital. After we get to the apartment I wouldn't mind a short nap myself." He gave a small chuckle as she let out a yawn.

* * *

  
  
"Siha." Thane whispered as he folded her in his arms, giving her a quick kiss before tucking her arm around his and slowly heading toward the hospital's elevator. He would have to speak to her later about what the doctor had told him. When they made it home Thane went to the bedroom, soon followed by Shepard. Kolyat worked on some of the C-Sec files for his latest assignment, something to do with smuggled weapons,  reports were made but never acted on.  
  
"I have missed you,  my love." Thane held her close to him, his heart beating in her ear. She could hear the crackling from his lungs as his condition grew worse and she worried about him more with each passing day. Her hand ran over his cool scales,  the color was duller than usual. The vibrant green taking on a slightly more yellowish shade.

She sighed, "I've missed you too."  Her fingers brushed along his soft ribbing,  the color not as deep red as it used to be, over his lips before kissing him. Several minutes later they drifted off into sleep.  
  
Shepard woke less than two hours later trying not to panic, she had the same recurring nightmare she had since escaping Earth. She carefully slipped out of bed,  something she rarely was ever able to do without waking Thane,  and headed for the shower.

* * *

  
  
Kolyat was watching a show on the vid screen when Shepard came downstairs. After getting a small snack and Tupari from the cooler she sat beside him. He draped his arm around her, tucking her under his shoulder. "How was your nap?"  
  
"I've had better,  but at least it was something. This damn war is really starting to take it toll on all of us. How has it been here on the Citadel?" She leaned her head on him as he stroked his thumb along her upper arm.

"People are beginning to pay some attention the war. So many of them still are walking around with their heads up their asses thinking there is no way the Reapers could get to the Citadel. Stupid shits don't seem to realize that if one could get here so can others."  
  
They sat like that for a while, Kolyat hugging her,  several times drawing her up on his lap to kiss her while grinding her down on his erection. He tried to keep himself under control until Thane woke up to give his agreement for him to take her. He had agreed to spend the night apart from them but his body was demanding her. He had just growled low,  his chest vibrating as he once more pulled her up,  practically ripping her shirt off and burying his face between her breasts as she gasped out at him when Thane finally woke.  
  
He walked slowly down the steps, stopping to watch his son lick Shepard's nipple before drawing it into his mouth,  his hands firmly on her denim covered ass. He smiled and let out a trill and warble, an answering hum came back to him and he watched as Kolyat's fingers moved to the fastenings of Shepard's pants. By the time he had made it down the stairs and fixed his cup of tea he could hear them in the living room, their moans echoed in the otherwise quiet apartment. He carried his mug to the room to sit and watch.  
  
Kolyat had already stripped her naked and he watched as Shepard had just finished taking off Kolyat's pants and pushed him to sit on the couch. Her tongue running over his chest, her hand stroking him before she straddled him. Thane let out trill of excitement and approval when she guided Kolyat into her. He watched as his son's ridged blue cock disappeared inside of her. Her groan loud as she was filled and stretched. Her body rose and fell in a rhythm he knew would have Kolyat gritting his teeth and holding himself back for as long as he could to draw out the sensations.  
  
After several minutes Thane stood and unfastened his own pants. He stroked himself several times before touching the back of Shepard's head and turning her face to him.  
  
Kolyat watched as Shepard opened her mouth and Thane slid his cock inside of her. Her pace stumbled and he let out both a groan and warble as he pulled her down on him, watching his Father sliding in and out of her mouth. Shepard's lips started to glisten as they were moistened by the natural lubricant that drells secrete and her own moisture from her mouth. "That's it, Siha. Just a little more then we should move somewhere else." Thane groaned as he slid down her tight throat several times before pulling out with a small pop.  
  
She carefully raised off of Kolyat and pulled him from the couch, Thane hastily shed the rest of his clothing,  adding it to the pile already on the floor. A minute later he was back in her mouth and Kolyat was watching again, listening to his Father's moans. "Take her from behind Kolyat, while I am in her mouth. Quickly." Shepard adjusted her stance, Thane holding her head as Kolyat took her hips in his hands. Sliding into her in one quick hard thrust sending her further down onto Thane's cock.  
  
Both drell were watching as they took her at the same time. Thane called a halt as his balls started to tighten. He turned Shepard around and watched as she licked Kolyat's twitching cock and wrapped her lips around him, drawing him into her mouth. His son's cry and loud trill brought a smile to his face as thrust inside her hot channel. He didn't close his eyes as he thrust hard and deep, going faster until he pushed one last time and came inside her before pulling out. Kolyat was watching Shepard as she dropped to her knees and started to bob her head taking him deeper again. His hiss and the way his muscles tightened let her know he was close. A few seconds later he let out a shout and came in her mouth.  
  
He asked Kolyat take her into the shower, told him to carefully and gently wash her after he brings her to orgasm, while he took a sonic shower in the other room.  
  
Kolyat let out a growl, backing her into the shower stall, the smirk on her face inflaming him. He pinned her to the bathroom wall, fucked her fast against it, his mouth biting down on the sensitive area of her neck until she screamed out. Her body was still throbbing as he turned her around, her face into the wall as he took her from behind, pounding fast and hard into her until he came again. Using his fingers to work her until she came once more. His hands were gentle, as were his kisses, as he washed and dried her.

* * *

  
  
Later the night Thane had them meet in the living room. "I need for both of you to listen. My doctor today gave me some news. There is a change to my breathing treatment and a more radical medication is being added. He informed me of all of the side effects that are currently known. One of which involves my ability to obtain and maintain an erection. There have been cases were those being treated can no longer ... function, in that manner. Whether it will happen to me or not is unknown. The treatments are to begin tomorrow." He stood up,  his loose pants riding low on his hips,  and moved closer to where the other two were sitting on the couch. "As such, I am giving consent to you both. Should you desire each other you may, at any time, share your bodies with each other,  I do not need to be present." His full lips gave a slight twist into a smirk before he said, "although, it would bring me great pleasure to be able to watch."  
  
Shepard laughed, "when I started dating you,  I had no idea you were this much of a perv."

He gave a light shrug. "I had always kept my fantasies and desires to myself. I was afraid I would lose you, I am glad to see that this has brought us closer though."

* * *

  
  
That night none of them got much rest, each waking the other several times. Thane watched and helped Kolyat the first time he tried to slide into Shepard's ass. Showing him that he needed more lube,  that he needed to spend just a bit more time in preparing her. Finally, Kolyat was able to take her. He didn't move, just kept himself buried in her for a minute or more, his eyes focused on the sight of himself in her.  
  
His father reached under her to stroke her clit and keep her excited. His fingers delving deep into her stroking her as Kolyat finally started to move,  his body shaking and the growls coming from him were loud. "That's better. Listen to her cries. She's enjoying you taking her like this Kolyat. Keep going."  
  
Thane moved in front of her,  sitting up against the headboard and she took him again in her mouth as Kolyat held her still while he rocked into her. Both men groaned and held on as long as they could. "Now, Kolyat." Both of them hissed and came,  holding her still between them.  
  
Early in the morning before she had to get up to leave, she woke Thane. Her lips and hands on his body,  her whispered words of love surrounded him as she sank down on him, her hips rolling as she raised and lowered herself. Kolyat stirred and watched as Shepard made love to Thane. Not hurried or rushed,  but with tenderness and hushed words,  smiles, and touches. He gave them both a smile when they looked at him after they had reached their peaks together.  
  
Kolyat didn't go with them this time to see her off. Instead, he kissed her passionately and telling her to be careful and to hurry home before they left the apartment. He was worried he couldn't restrain himself to just give her a small kiss on the cheek in front of the other humans at the dock.


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

 

Vid comm calls were few and far between over the next month she was gone. She told them she had rescued Grunt who had been in charge of his own company. How the Reapers had modified the Rachni and captured the queen she had rescued so many years ago. She was heading back to the Citadel,  the krogan needed medical attention for severe burns and physical trauma.  
  
She was planning on having two days of shore leave while they restock and make some repairs to the ship. She would need to work some of it, she had received messages that more refugees were fleeing to the station and agreed to help Garrus down in the holding dock that was being converted. Kolyat warned her that the area was highly restricted, she would need to be unarmed to gain access,  Spectre status or not. C-Sec was having too many issues with smuggled weapons and were now doing searches on the refugees. They had a modified weapons scanner in place after the last set of murders happened down there.  


* * *

  
  
Shepard spent several hours at the hospital, Grunt was being a pain and threatening the hospital staff. He kept yelling he was krogan, no burns would keep him down and he had to get back out there and fight. Finally Shepard threatened him and told him to stay in that damn bed, if he listened and didn't cause problems she would bring him some of his favorite noodles before she left again. She was depending on him to regain his full strength to be ready to help kick Reaper ass when they went to take back Palaven and Earth from the bastards. He gave the slow grin and disturbing laugh of his as he imagined the damage he would be able to do on Earth against even more Reapers. His battlemaster was counting on him and he wouldn't let her down.  
  
She stopped in and spoke with Kaidan for a while,  he was recovering and would be released soon now that his biotic amp was functioning properly and his body had healed. He told her that Udina had come by again and he had accepted the nomination of second human Spectre. It gave her a moment's pause as too much red tape and other things had been skipped. A Councilor just didn't offer a position like that,  it was a joint Council thing, after training and proving himself to them. She knew that Kaidan hadn't done anything on the Council worthy after helping to take down Saren. What the hell was going on? She congratulated him and left. Her thoughts running rampant in her head.  
  
Thane had waited for her in the visitor's lounge and they shared a ride home. She voiced her concerns with everything becoming rushed and how an unprepared Spectre could be a disaster especially one with such a narrow view. She made sure he was settled in bed and had drifted off to sleep before leaving him a note and heading toward the refugee dock. She stopped by several small sectioned off areas, talking with the people there, assuring them that everything that could be done to stop this war was being done. She helped several of the volunteers with handing out rations and medical kits. Finally finding Garrus at the back of the area that the Turians seemed to be congregated in. They spoke and he showed her what was needed the most down in the area,  how short their supplies were. She shook her head only muttering what he already knew, the Council had years to stockpile, had years to get ready for this and they just pissed it away by refusing to listening.  
  
She ran into Kolyat who was on patrol in what seemed to be the waiting area of the dock,  where those that were waiting on word of new arrivals hung out. She let him know Thane was at home resting, he told her his shift ended in another hour and he would wait for her until she was done. She talked to James who had taken to hanging out down there with the refugees then worked her way back to the memorial area that had been set up. Looking at all of the postings of missing or lost loved ones. Seeing how many different species were there comforting each other in their shared losses. It was there that Kolyat found her.  
  
Thane was awake when they arrived home and they all spent time together after dinner. During that evening's vid Shepard had fallen asleep. Kolyat carried her up to bed where Thane undressed her and they both wrapped themselves around her and held her tight.  
  
Hours later Kolyat awoke to Shepard's hands and mouth on him. She straddled him and kissed him as he ran his own hands over her body, surprised she had turned to him instead of Thane,  until he felt the bed dipping more and opened his eyes to see his Father moving behind her holding the lube bottle. He smirked at him over her shoulder as she sucked on his neck and watched as his Father lubed a condom after rolling it onto his own cock. "Siha, " Thane whispered and she sank down on Kolyat's cock, hilting on him. Kolyat's groan filled the air and turned into a shout as he felt his Father stretching her as he entered her ass. Kolyat's kisses became frantic as he felt Thane start to thrust in her. Thane leaned into her and ran his hand over Kolyat's side before bringing his son's hands to her ass.  
  
His eyes opened wide as he felt his Father placing his hands on Shepard's ass and spreading her cheeks wider. Thane grunted and pushed in hard, going deeper than before, causing her to spasm and shout out as he started to thrust into her hard and fast. Several more thrusts and they all groaned as they felt him erupt inside her. Thane shifted his hands to her hips and held her still while Kolyat moved his to Thane's hips, holding him tight against Shepard,  making sure his Father stayed buried to the hilt inside of her.  
  
"Kolyat," Shepard moaned and he started to thrust up in her. She started to pant and shake until she came, squeezing him tight and he gave several more thrusts before shouting her name and filling her. Thane gave several thrusts as Kolyat continued to release in her before carefully pulling out and walking shakily to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.  
  
Kolyat was laying there still buried deep in Shepard when they heard the coughing. Both of them scrambled from the bed when they heard the crash in the bathroom.  
  
He threw on a set of leathers as Shepard called for emergency services. They arrived and transported an unconscious Thane to the hospital. Shepard was pacing in the waiting room wearing a set of Alliance issued workout sweats,  the only thing she could grab and put on fast enough in the few minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive. Kolyat finally had enough of watching her pace and got up to bring her to sit back down, holding her tightly as they waited for news.  
  
"Mrs. Krios?" An asari asked as she approached them in the waiting area. Shepard nodded and stood up,  followed by Kolyat. "The doctor would like to see you both. Follow me please." They followed her back to where a doctor was waiting outside of a private room. "Mrs. Krios. I have some good news and some bad. The good news is your husband is awake and aware. The bad news is he has had some head trauma. His Keprals is, as you are aware, far advanced. His lung capacity is only 15% in his left lung,  his right one is closer to 35% and is overworking itself to try and compensate. The new treatments are not having much of an effect on him, I'm afraid. I recommend he be admitted here on a full time basis. He can not over exert himself as he did earlier. Light physical exercise only from now on to keep his lungs functioning." The human doctor looked between the two of them and waited as they spoke in hushed tones before she nodded.  
  
"Alright. May we go in and see him? Talk to him?" The doctor gave a brief nod, "only for a few minutes. He is sedated and needs rest."  
  
Thane slowly opened his eyes, the breathing mask in place was keeping him from giving her a kiss he desperately wanted to. She leaned in and kissed his forehead before stroking it, Kolyat did the same afterward. "Father, the doctor explained to us what happened. He also told us of his recommendation for you to stay here. We know it is not how you wanted to spend this time,  but we spoke to each other and agreed. If it gives you a bit more time with us then so be it. We will spend as much time here as we can. I have notified Bailey and requested the next few days off, until the doctors tell us you are stable." Thane turned his head away from them. He didn't want to be here, to be on these machines.  
  
"Thane, please. We love you and can't bear to lose you. The machines are only for a bit, then they can be removed."  He glanced back at her, and watched the tears slowly making their way down her cheeks. He closed his eyes and gave a brief nod, turning his head once again. They squeezed his hand and kissed his forehead again before making their way from his room.  
  
The rest of shore leave was spent by Thane's side,  only leaving him when the doctors and nurses kicked them from his room. The night was spent holding each other, they just wanted comfort and to bring comfort to the other.  
  
Shepard stopped in early on the morning she was going to be leaving. He had been removed from the machines the previous night and she gave him a lingering kiss goodbye, telling him she loved him and promising to come and see him again soon.  
  
The first chance he got, the moment he was let out of bed and given his omni tool, he contacted the Drell Records Department branch at the Hanar embassy on the Citadel; making sure the Rite of Tainia had been properly recorded and all paperwork was in order. Including his will and investments. He knew his time was now counted in days and hours no longer in months and weeks.  
  
Kolyat spent every waking moment outside of his work with Thane. Reading to him from the book of prayer and listening to Thane's hushed instructions on Shepard and his business investments,  the location of his hidden papers and stashed credits and weapons. They both heard the increased activity over the last few days, the sheer amount of incoming casualties and injuries was staggering. Neither one had heard from Shepard and they were both worried.  
  
Grunt had come down to see him briefly before the doctors had found the krogan and prodded him back up to the upper levels of the hospital.  
  
One morning as he dressed for his daily exercise he heard shouts and gunfire. Cries of "it's Cerberus" echoed in the hallway. He tore the vent cover off the opening and entered the shaft,  slowly working his way around looking down into the area seeing the white armor of the troopers. Watching as they gunned down helpless people. He saw Grunt charge one of them and smash him against the wall.  
  
"Grunt, it is Thane. Listen, Cerberus is attacking the station. Stay here, protect these people, Shepard would want that. I am going to see if I can't get to C-Sec and see if I can be of help, see if I can notify Shepard for help." He waited until Grunt picked up some weapons and took up guard at the entrance of the patient area. "Understood, I will do this for Battlemaster."  
  
Thane worked his way back down finally making it to where the vent had an opening to the outside. He started sending out an emergency code on the channels hoping that Shepard would be close enough to receive it, or if not her,  then a whole squadron of other soldiers. They needed all the help they could get.  
  
He heard Joker respond on the emergency channel and sent up a prayer to Arashu. "Siha, Cerberus is attacking the station. I am heading to C-Sec headquarters."  
  
"Are you safe? Why are you going there? Is Kolyat with you?" Her voice came to him, his silent prayers included her own safety and forgiveness for having to take even more lives.

"No, I am hiding in a shop. Breathing is difficult, but I am making my way there. Kolyat isn't with me and I haven't been able to contact him. As long as Cerberus has C-Sec headquarters they have the station."  
  
Several minutes later he was once again running as best as he could toward the headquarters, his lungs aching,  his breathing rapid and raspy. He heard Bailey and Shepard on the emergency lines,  they had retaken part of the Headquarters. When he heard they were going after the salarian's Councilor he told them he heard and was on his way. They let him know Kolyat was fine, he had been with Bailey and helped to hold off Cerberus troops long enough for Shepard to save them.  
  
He found a vent opening on the outside of the building, carefully working his way up the floors until he reached the right one. He heard Shepard and Garrus yelling to each other as they always did about who killed the most, a slight smile coming to his lips. He noticed movement in the shadows and saw the human dressed in Cerberus colors drop from the rafters. He let out a soft snort, amateur. Then he heard the shattering of glass and watched as the entire group dropped down into the room below. Carefully moving into place he waited for the right time to drop down.  
  
He felt his body start to falter but didn't let it show in his movements, as smooth and sure as ever. But this human was enhanced with advanced cybernetics, if he was at his best he would have no worries. But he knew that he was not and had to end this fast. At the worst moment possible, as he leapt at the man, his body failed him. The piercing of that sword into his stomach was excruciating, as was the sound of his wife screaming when the sword was pulled back out. He barely remained conscious long enough to make it to his feet, stumbling down the stairs following her as the would be assassin ran. He fired off several shots before collapsing against the wall, his vision and hearing leaving him as he felt his wife's kiss and heard her tell him to hold on, before seeing her run after the other man, placing her duty before her own wants.  
  
He woke hearing the soft sound of Kolyat reading to him. When his son noticed him stirring he got up and moved closer. "You just got out of surgery, Father. Thanks to Grunt and the more able bodied soldiers that were here recovering, the hospital remained mostly intact.  I haven't heard anything from Bailey yet, I left as soon as word reached me you were hurt and needed blood. I have had no contact with Shepard either,  I am sure she is fine though."  
  
Thane reached for the face mask and Kolyat brushed his hand away. "You cannot remove it, Father."

Thane moved his head from side to side. His whisper of, "must hurry, must pray," was heard and Kolyat listened as the broken prayer, asking for forgiveness for his sins, poured from his Father's lips. Once again Thane reached to remove the mask,  this time Kolyat acquiesced. A few minutes later, Shepard was heard yelling outside of his room asking where her husband was.  
  
She rushed inside, her tear stained cheeks pale and still in her armor. Spattered with blood and smoke she told them that the Council was safe thanks to Thane. She leaned down giving him a soft kiss and stripped her gauntlets off before reaching for his hand. They spoke a few more minutes before Thane gasped out the need for another prayer, he started to speak it only to be cut off with a burst of body wracking coughs, Kolyat stood beside him and finished the prayer for him. Thane gave him a smile and sighed with relief.  
  
Kolyat moved around to the other side of the bed, taking out the small prayer book and asking Shepard if she wanted to read a prayer with him. When she nodded he wrapped an arm about her as best he could,  not caring about the damage to his already torn and bloody C-Sec uniform and began to read. Shepard joining in, both of them seeing Thane smile and turn toward the window where the artificial light was shining and the clear blue of the fake sky, hid the horror that had just taken place. They heard the last breath leave his battered and broken body. Shepard and Kolyat both started to cry,  getting themselves under control after a few minutes. She reached over, turning his head back and carefully closing his outer eyelid membrane before placing a kiss on his slowly cooling lips.  
  
Kolyat did the same, before covering his Father's face with the sheet. "Kolyat, the last few lines of that prayer, it said "she". Why?"  
  
"The prayer wasn't meant for him, Shepard. He had already asked for forgiveness for his sins. It had been for you." She broke out in tears again before whispering to Thane that she would meet him across the sea and to wait for her.  
  
She turned from him and walked out of the room, Kolyat staying long enough to say one final prayer and to give instructions to the doctors on how to prepare Thane's body to be taken to Kahje, it had been one of his final wishes that his body receive Drell funeral rites and be given to the sea. Then he went in search of Shepard, who was now his wife. Sooner than he had ever wished she would be.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

 

 

This is the end of the first part of this two part series. The second part picks up right after this and continues through the rest of ME3 storyline and into their future. The chapters will be added to continue this same posting.   
  
Please be aware that the second part will take a while to write and post. Thank you to everyone that has read or will read this story. 

 

The next part will focus now their levirate marriage. The struggles they have coping with Thane's loss, outsiders views on their marriage and what happens to them after the war is over and their life together continues.

 

Hope you will enjoy it.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second part of this story starts with this chapter. As a refresher, this part contains the levirate marriage between Shepard and Kolyat. It will focus more on the blossoming of their relationship, on their hardships and the reactions of her crew and how they cope with the war and the aftermath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note, this will still take a while to write out as I have just so much going on in real life and trying to write chapters on all of the stories. Please bear with me.

* * *

 

 He found her in one of the corners of the waiting room, leaning against the wall. Her quiet tears still flowing. He guided her to the elevator and once their transport dropped them off at the apartment he brought her inside, after carefully checking for any surprises Cerberus may have left. The building mostly remained untouched. Some shattered windows, a few broken down doors but nothing had been damaged in the upper levels. From the looks of it,  the fight here was fast and over quickly.  
  
He helped Shepard from her armor, setting her omni tool to a "do not disturb mode", helped her into the shower then into bed. He sent out a message to the group listing for her ground crew telling them of the passing of his Father and that Shepard was not to be contacted unless it was a true emergency as she was in shock and needed a bit of time. Garrus sent a reply, everything was to be directed to him now until she was available. He, along with the rest of the crew that had known his Father, sent their condolences.  
  
Several hours later, Shepard woke, seeing Kolyat sitting beside the bed in a chair and fast asleep. She must have made noise as she moved because he jerked awake. There were several awkwardly quiet moments before Kolyat cleared his throat and told her of Thane's final wishes. She nodded then reached for her omni tool sending a quick message to someone. A few minutes later she received an answer. "Zaeed will take both you and Thane's body to Kahje. That planet is fairly safe right now after stopping that crazed Hanar from taking down the automated defense system. He will take you there, either you can stay there until the end of the war or he can bring you back after the funeral. I can not go, Kolyat. Too much is happening,  and this attack makes it worse. There is now such panic on the station. Now there is going to be more need to finish this fast."  
  
He waited a few minutes then agreed,  he knew she couldn't put aside the needs of the galaxy to make her own a priority. "Alright. Let him know that the Rite can be performed as soon as we arrive. It will take 2 days then we can return. I will send out messages through the embassy so they can be ready. After I get back and you come back for shore leave, we'll need to talk. There are a few things to go over and we'll need to ... officially sign the documents noting the change of marriage rights. The documents are already on file with the drell and hanar,  they just need to be filed with the Alliance." He moved to the bed to hold her as she started crying again.  
  
Her omni tool started to signal incoming messages. He gave out a frustrated sigh as they weren't giving her any time to recover. After reading the messages she told him she would be leaving after taking the meeting requested by the asari Councilor in the morning.

* * *

  
  
It was almost two months later that she returned to the Citadel. He had been watching the news. Heard of the way she had united the geth and quarians. How in less than a month she had ended a war that had lasted over 300 years. All because she took the chance and befriended both and stood up for both, showing them that synthetics and organics could work together, could co-exist and be friends.  
  
When he met her at the dock he was shocked at her haggard appearance. Her skin usually so pale anyway was extremely white,  large dark circles had formed under her eyes which had lost their sparkle. It seemed she was acting by rote. Putting one foot in front of the other, answering the myriad number of questions thrown at her by both reporters and civilians alike as she tried to make it to where he was standing.

Bailey had sent another armed C-Sec guard with him to protect her,  apparently one of the things she had to do before leaving the Citadel after his father died, had ended up with a Batarian terrorist holding a gun to her. Bailey had been so angry, their sweeps of the area after Cerberus had tried to take the station revealed several hidden stashes of weaponry. He increased patrols and made thorough searches of everything, nothing was safe from him, not even the various potted plants. He posted warnings that anyone caught with an illegal weapon would be subject to deportation from the station,  immediately. Deck after deck was being searched, so many turrets and other pieces of leftover Cerberus weaponry was found and had to be disposed of that C-Sec was now having their personnel working close to 18 hour shifts, at least until more people could be hired.  
  
Once he was able to get to her, they escorted her to the transport terminal and then to the apartment, against her wishes. She had kept telling them that she needed to see the refugee camp,  that she had to go see the Council and that there were items to be sent to various people. Restocking had to take place and so much more before she could go home. Kolyat told her to send messages to her crew and have them pick up the slack. She needed rest. As soon as he helped her into bed she fell fast asleep.  
  
It wasn't more than two hours later before he heard her cry out and went running for the stairs. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands and she was shaking. "Shepard? Are you alright? What's wrong,  what happened?"  He sat beside her on the bed,  his hand taking her sweat dampened one and holding tightly to it.  
  
"Just a dream,  sorry to bother you." She stood up,  moved to her closet removing a clean set of clothing and then headed to the shower, leaving Kolyat sitting on the bed.  
  
He left her to it and went down to fix her something to eat, setting a place for her at the bar. He caught her just as she was getting ready to go out the door. "No, Shepard. At least eat something first then we can go together to do some of the things. But you need to rest more or you won't make it." She started to shake her head but he kept insisting. She gave a sigh and stumbled to the bar where he placed a hot plate of noodles and a salad in front of her. She ate a few bites then tried to leave. He pushed her back in her seat. "Not enough. Eat it all,  you can't keep going like this."  
  
"Kolyat,  I don't have time for this shit. There is too much to do." Shepard threw her fork on the counter and made to rise again.

"Damn it, Shepard. I promised Father I would take care of you. You haven't been taking care of yourself,  look at you. Your whiter than the sheets on the bed,  you have lost so much weight it's a wonder your clothes and armor even fit anymore. When was the last time you ate something other than a quick bite or two of a nutri bar before rushing off to another fight? You're killing yourself." He slammed his mug down on the counter. "Then what good will all this rushing,  all this neglect do, if you end up getting sick or worse in the middle of this war?"  
  
She stared at him a frown on her face, "I eat when I have time. I don't have time right now."

He stood up staring down at her. "I call bullshit on that, Shepard. You have time,  you have it right now. Instead you are arguing with me over this. You and your ship isn't going anywhere for a few days. You can take an hour to eat before going off to do whatever. And not everything has to be taken care of all at once. I can just bet the rest of your crew is somewhere relaxing, at a bar,  a hotel or in someone's bed. Yet you won't take a bit of time to sit and eat with me. I haven't seen you in several months. I don't get a hello,  I don't get a hug or a kiss. I don't even get a thank you for trying to make sure you got here safely. For Goddess sake you are my wife, yet you act as if you don't even know me or want anything to do with me now that Thane is gone."  
  
She sucked in a breath and snapped her head back. "Don't even go there, Kolyat. You may technically be my husband but I am still in mourning for Thane. He was everything to me. Do you think this mess is easy for me? I have to try and get through each day knowing that he is gone. I am pulled in so many different directions I don't know where to go first. I am terrified of making a mistake. One fucking mistake can lose us everything. I don't have time to go to bars, to go to hotels or to fuck around. This whole goddamn galaxy is depending on me to stop the reapers."  
  
"That is too much for one person. You have so many species willing to help.  You have a whole damn crew that can pick up the slack,  but unless you let them help you, they will just keep letting it all ride on you. And once you are down,  everything will go down, as no one else will know how to cope,  how to contend with the bastards. Because of your unwillingness to share the responsibilities. That crew of yours is not incompetent, let them handle more day to day things. Small things,  like restocking,  setting up for repairs. Let them lift some of the load from your overburdened shoulders. Let me take care of you while you are here, Shepard. It's my right and responsibility to do so."  
  
Shepard closed her eyes and leaned against the bar, she was so tired. She missed Thane so much,  and having his voice mixed in with Mordin's and Ashley's along with so many others in that horrible nightmare was just making things worse. She knew he was right,  knew she had been neglecting her health. But without Thane waiting for her to come home she was finding it more difficult to even care. And she knew that it was not fair to Kolyat.  
  
He had been hurting too. His father gone,  his wife gone for months right afterward without so much as even a vid call. He had sent her an email letting her know they had made it to Kahje and that the rest of the family had prepared the body. He glossed over the fact that several had been appalled that she didn't take the time to come to her husband's funeral. But between the Council trouble, Cerberus and other issues she just couldn't.  
  
Now she had to find a way to balance what was going on and finally come to understand that Thane wasn't there and in his place was his son, her husband. She held up her hand and he crossed his arms over his chest and waited. "If I sit and eat what you fixed, then can we go to the refugee dock and set up for restocking? I will start to delegate a bit more. But there are some things that I have to use my Spectre authority to push through,  those I have to do myself."  
  
"Alright,  you eat,  we go to those places after we make a stop at the Alliance Headquarters and file the paperwork notifying them of the marriage. It's already been filled out and I've signed it. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes to drop it off and get confirmation."


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, this chapter will probably bore the hell out of anyone reading it.

* * *

 

That evening was spent with Kolyat watching over Shepard as she used her terminal to set up refueling and restocking. Her omni tool was constantly pinging out sounds either letting her know messages were coming in or ones she had sent out had been received.  
  
At one point she stopped at looked at her personal messages and let out a sigh,  most of her ground crew and Cortez wanted to spend some time with her. She supposed that it was more out of needing to make sure she took a few minutes away from the stuff that was going on than anything else. She also had yet to tell any of them about being married to Kolyat now, instead of being his step mother. She didn't know what the humans would think. The aliens would probably be more understanding as their own cultures were different and had more experience with the diversity.  
  
Humans on the other hand, she was sure it was to cause more than just a few raised eyebrows. The clerk at the Alliance headquarters had already let them know of some of what they would encounter with the frown, quick glances and drawn down eyebrows. Her sneer and the way she didn't want to touch the datapad caused Shepard's hackles to rise and she lit into the woman.  
  
"Kolyat, several of my crew are wanting to spend time with me. Vega sent a request to come by tomorrow in the afternoon and also again with Cortez later that night to watch a game on the sports channel." He nodded and told her he would make sure there were refreshments, that he was happy to help in any way he could. He blinked when he saw the frown appear on her face. "What?"  
  
"Kolyat... they don't know we are married. They are human and ...", she leaned back in her chair for only the briefest of moments with her eyes closed before the pinging of her omni tool started again.  
  
"You are concerned they will react like that bitch did earlier?"  
  
"Yeah. You know humans don't accept the alien cultures readily most of the time, not unless it benefits them. I don't know how they will react if I tell them." She heard him stand up.

" _If you tell them_ ... what the hell do you mean by that, Shepard? You're my damn wife. We are not going to hide as if our marriage is wrong. WE agreed to the _Rite of Tainia_ , the moment you accepted me into your body and we found pleasure together the pact was sealed with the three of us. You know this. Father and I discussed this with you and you said you understood."  
  
"I know that, Kolyat. But I have to take into account my crew. If one of them has issues with a marriage such as ours and can't seem to put it aside it might cause problems with the cohesiveness of the ground crew. I can't have that."  
  
"Bullshit. Your crew is so mixed with different species and cultures that this shouldn't affect it. And if it does then something else is going on as well. If you were going to be so ashamed of what we did and of us being married after Thane died then you should have said something that night of the meeting. Not let my father and I think that you understood this part of our culture. Not let both of us continue to think that everything was fine."  
  
He stood up and paced in front of her, "damn it all. I was as good as married to you that night. I was for all intent and purpose already your husband. I promised Thane to be as such and I kept to my word. I tried my best to understand why your people may have looked at our joining as wrong. But damn it, we are in all ways now legally married. You are my wife and I will not hide this or be shamed by it,  nor will I let humans force me into being shamed by it." He strode off into the kitchen where she heard him banging around for several minutes before seeing him jog up the stairs with a bottle in his hand heading toward the bedroom.  
  
She leaned her elbows on the table wondering how this had turned out so badly. It had been so simple when Thane was alive,  to everyone she was married to Thane and Kolyat was just her step son that lived in the apartment. Now it was so different ... what was she to do? What would her crew think if ...when she told them? She let out a string of curses when her omni tool kept pinging, not even giving her a moment of silence to still her thoughts,  to think.  
  
She had fallen asleep at her desk,  Kolyat came down and silenced her omni tool before gently draping a light covering over her. She barely twitched. He let out a sigh and gave her a light stroke along her hair before heading back up to the bedroom.

 

* * *

  
  
James showed up the next afternoon. Kolyat let him in then retreated to the study without saying a word to the soldier. Vega rubbed the back of his head wondering what was going on with the blue guy, then shrugged when he heard Shepard calling his name from the top of the stairs. He lightly jogged up the steps not seeing Kolyat move to the small alcove under the spiral. He could see up to the balcony where the other two were standing and talking.  
  
He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes as he watched her lean against the railing, smiling and laughing as the big brute flirted with her. He almost ran up the stairs to attack Vega when he saw him strip off his shirt. Just barely keeping himself in check as he watched the human turn around to show something to Shepard that was on his back. He did let out a low growl that she must have heard when she had reached out and touched the N7 tattoo that James had just received,  because she jerked her hand back and crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
Less than an hour later James left, he started to go into the lower bedroom after spotting the boxing sandbag that she had set up in the corner but thought better of it when he saw Kolyat slap the front door panel open and stare at him. As soon as James had passed through, the door swished shut and the bright red "locked" symbol popped up.  
  
"Kolyat? What the hell was that all about?" She asked as she started down the spiral staircase.  
  
He watched her until she reached the bottom before he walked over to her. "That bastard was flirting you. You are my wife. You didn't stop him or tell him." He stood staring down at her not blinking.  
  
"I'll tell them tonight. I promise. Just give me time. Maybe if I tell one or two at a time it would work better than all of them at once."  
  
He stared at her a moment longer. "Tell them, Shepard. Or I will. I won't tolerate someone flirting with you. I will not agree to _Sahamathia_. Not yet. This marriage is too new and too shaky. It is not as ... not as loving... as it had been with Thane." He turned and walked from her into the kitchen where he sat about ordering up snacks and drinks to be delivered before the game. She stared at him for a few seconds before heading toward the study and returning to working on her terminal.

 

* * *

  
  
When James and Cortez arrived an hour before the start of the game they found Kolyat cleaning the apartment and an assortment of goodies placed on the bar. Shepard told them to help themselves. They glanced at each other because they both heard the nervous fluctuation in her voice and picked up on her twitchy behavior. Something that was so unusual that they didn't think they had ever seen it from her before.  
  
They also noticed the way the drell would glance at her and back at them before going back to doing whatever he had been up to.  
  
As they sat in the living room watching the game, Cortez's eyes flicked between Kolyat and Shepard. He also heard what James apparently either didn't or had no clue what it had meant. Each time James had made one of his usual flirty comments to Shepard, Kolyat would let out a growl and stare at her. Cortez figured something was up with those two but just didn't know what. And it was making Shepard skittish around them.  
  
When the human team scored the goal before the ending buzzer James jumped up from the couch, the bottle of beer in his hand splashing some of the remaining liquid out to land on the small table that was currently covered in bottles, partially eaten snacks on plates and half empty platters and bowls. Kolyat let out a hiss and went to get something to clean up the mess with and Cortez took the opportunity to ask Shepard what exactly was going on with both of them.  
  
James looked between Cortez and Shepard and said, "huh? Amigo,  you know the kid is her stepson, no? Her bad ass husband's kid." James swayed a bit and emptied out his bottle, before dropping back down on the couch. His meaty fist grabbed a handful of crunchy bits to eat not seeing the look of fright on Shepard's face that was gone in a blink of an eye. Cortez however did.  
  
When Kolyat came back in he looked between the three of them then threw the rag on the table. "Shepard."  
  
"Alright..." Shepard cleared her throat and turned toward the two men sitting on the couch. "Try and keep an open mind... drell traditions are different and well ... when Thane passed away," she audibly swallowed before continuing, "when he passed away, I became Kolyat's wife. I'm married to him ... legally."  
  
James sat staring at her,  his mouth open and the chip he was holding in his one hand only halfway to its destination. Cortez let out a breath and muttered, "shit".  
  
"Lola, that's a bad joke, yeah?" James lowered the chip and stared at her. "It's not a joke, is it?" When she shook her head at him he muttered something in spanish and tossed the chip on the table. "This isn't a ...real marriage though,  right? I mean you don't ... with your stepson." Shepard wouldn't meet his eyes which caused him to mutter more.  
  
"And this is a part of your culture, Kolyat?" Cortez asked the young drell who was staring at them both.  
  
"Yes. Well,  technically it is an older tradition that isn't always adhered to.  Shepard is my wife.  I don't care what you may think because of you being human. She also married him under drell law and custom and agreed. Nothing any of you do is going to change it. She's mine legally and I will do what I can to uphold my responsibilities and duties to her."  
  
Cortez held up a hand to him, "trust me Kolyat, I know all too well how small minded my kind can be and has been through the ages. But I do understand what is going on here, although it is not something that is normally done outside of a very specific culture. I take it this ... arrangement had been... uh, made prior to Thane's death? And had been um..." he paused and looked toward Shepard who nodded. "Ahh. Now I see why you were so hesitant."  
  
"Ehh?" James mumbled as he looked at Cortez then to Shepard.  
  
"Vega, Shepard and Kolyat have entered into what used to be known as a levirate marriage. It is an old custom even on Earth."

Cortez looked at him while James sputtered, "but that's her kid."  
  
"No. Look at it this way. Kolyat is an adult not a child. When Thane passed that broke the marriage ties concerning the family. The drell part of the marriage then kicked in and she became his responsibility and under his care. They had a prior agreement and it activated upon her prior husband's death."  
  
James scratched at his head,  the short mohawk being ruffled as he slid his hand back and forth across it trying to figure out what Cortez was talking about. "So you're saying that he wasn't her kid when they married?"  
  
Cortez nodded, "right. Not to them and not to his culture." They sat quietly as the big guy tried to understand what was going on.  
  
"I need another beer, Lola." James said as he got up and headed cautiously toward the kitchen.

Cortez looked at the others. "Listen both of you,  I understand Commander why you are nervous. Not everyone on board is going to understand this. I'll be there to help the best I can, I think Traynor and several others will understand better. But some will not,  no matter what. I'll keep an eye on them, but hopefully this war is too big for them to bother with someone else's personal life choices. Afterwards,  well should we survive, you can count on me to be here for you both."  
  
Shepard let out a breath, "thanks, Steve."  
  
Kolyat was looking at the human and had a frown on his mouth. "Shepard, I told you earlier I won't accept _Sahamathia_. Not even with him."  
  
Shepard swung around and it took a few seconds to understand before she let out a laugh. "Steve isn't attracted to me Kolyat. You don't need to worry about his asking for that. Well, unless he wanted to be with you. Steve is gay."

Kolyat blinked and his frills fluttered, "oh. Sorry I misunderstood."

Steve only laughed then winked at him, "don't worry about it Kolyat, handsome though you are, I do believe Shepard doesn't feel an attraction to me either."  
  
They were much more relaxed by the time Vega came back to the living room. "Okay,  I think I got it now. But, Shepard, are you gonna tell the others or just wait until after this war?"  
  
"I don't know, James. I don't want my personal life to cause a distraction,  we can't afford anything to disrupt us from our goal." Shepard said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.  
  
"It really isn't any of their business, Commander. As long as it isn't causing any interference with how we are doing in this war or your decisions concerning it,  I would wait. Well, maybe Garrus and Tali,  because of how close the three of you are. And if anyone would understand it would be the non humans,  those that have known you since the beginning." Cortez stood up and started to gather the leftovers as he talked to her.  
  
She looked over at Kolyat who had crossed his arms and had a stubborn look on his face. "Kolyat,  can we talk this over later?"  
  
"I told you I won't be shamed into hiding our marriage."  
  
Cortez glanced over at him then back down at the table, "I don't think it's a shame thing, Kolyat. What we are facing out there needs our full attention at all times. Having to worry about if someone disagrees with the marriage and will cause a problem isn't something we need. If both of you can wait until the threat is over,  then the ones that don't like it can just leave, without having to worry about us being short handed even more than we already are. Or acting against us out of a misplaced sense of morality. Just think about it."  
  
He took out the trash and they all walked to the door to say goodnight. Shepard turned her omni tool back on and was flooded with incoming "urgent" messages. Kolyat let out a soft growl and sigh as he watched his wife head toward the study.


	12. Chapter 12

* * *

 

Kolyat stood at the railing watching the Normandy leave again before he headed back to work. His thoughts turned inward, something had to give at some point or this marriage will utterly fail, and there would be nothing they could do. There was no divorce.

He gave his report on the weapons to Bailey, who looked at them then studied something on his terminal. He noted how easily these new weapons could pass through security scans. Weapons that could be broken down into smaller pieces and hidden among other innocuous items.

Time seemed to move much slower when Shepard was away. He was sitting in their apartment going over the latest crime reports from the docking area when a vid call came in, he frowned as Shepard had told him the first thing the Reapers did was to take out the communications so the inhabitants couldn't call for help.

"Request caller identification." As soon as he heard her voice he accepted the call.

"Shepard? What happened? What's wrong?"" His voice carried a note of panic and worry as he looked at her appearance, even more haggard than it had been when she was here. The demands placed on her by other people and the Alliance would surely kill her before the Reapers did if they didn't soon give her time to rest and to heal.

"We lost Legion. In order to stop the war between the quarians and the geth... he showed me records that the geth had kept and maintained about what happened all those centuries ago. Kolyat, the quarians were killing their own people as well as the units if they tried to protect them. Just shot them down and dumped their bodies. I think it shocked Tali and a few of the others, their version of what happened was passed down by word of mouth, and for those of us that do not have eidetic memories, things blur and change, morph into something completely different as the story is passed from one person to another."

She placed her head in the palm of one hand, "there was a Reaper on Rannoch. Not just a base where they were sending out signals to the geth, but an actual goddamned Reaper. It took the combined quarian fleet and me holding a target on it for it to go down. When Legion tried to upload his upgrades into the geth consensus, it didn't work. He had to actually ... to actually upload his own self into the consensus... to become data I guess and become a part of each of the geth programs. Kolyat... he became alive, truly alive, only moments before he died." She looked up at him, a tear rolling down her face, "both fleets are helping us now... but it was at a great cost. If those bastards would have just tried to understand and communicated with the geth and not started a fucking petty war in the middle of the biggest damn war this galaxy has known, it wouldn't have been necessary."

"I am sorry, Shepard. I know that is inadequate. Father spoke of Legion quite often in our messages to each other and when we visited each other. He admired the geth unit, I believe." He had his hands behind his back gripping his fingers together... _she held a target on a Reaper...what the hell was she thinking?_   "So I take it the quarians have their homeworld back, even though it sounded like they caused the own loss to begin with and it had nothing to do with the geth initially, just the quarians attempt at genocide to cover up their own failing?"

She let out a tired sounding snort, "yeah, they do and Tali even told me that some of the geth have offered to help the quarians adapt faster by uploading into their suits to help build up resistances faster. It would cut down the time they would need to acclimate to the planet again and could actually go suit free in less than a century."

"It sounds like the geth are quite different than what we were led to believe. You look extremely tired again. Have you been eating? Trying to get some sleep at least?"

"It's been non-stop. As soon as I think I have a handle on one thing, all hell breaks loose and that one thing turns into two, three or sometimes more, things to do. But as I promised, I have been trying. As a matter of fact we are due to come back to the Citadel for some repairs again. I also have two meetings scheduled for then, and yes I must take these as they are both classified. Estimated layover is three days. Sending you the data now." His omni tool let out a soft ping.

"Before you go, Shepard. Have you talked with Tali and Garrus yet? Liara?"

"I talked with Garrus. He already knew about the custom so took it better than I thought. Liara has been so busy I barely get a chance to even say more than hello before she has her attention on one of the terminals in her room. What with the whole quarian thing ... I thought it could wait. But I will talk with them and Garrus passed on congratulations as well. I honestly think he may have suspected what had occurred even before Thane's death." She blinked and her throat closed up when she mentioned Thane. Kolyat looked down at the floor then back up at her.

"I am glad to hear you at least told Garrus, I'm sure he will help others understand as well when we tell the rest of the crew after this war is over. But for now, I will get as much food and shit in here as I can, the damn rationing is becoming worse. Although, it hasn't seemed to have affected the nightclubs and bars, they have an abundance of alcohol which is making my life at C-Sec harder. You have any idea how many bar fights, drunk and disorderly calls I got sent to this last week? Maybe you can pull out that Spectre card when you get here and we can get something other than barely edible brown boxed meals."

"I'll see what I can do. Good night, Kolyat." She gave a small laugh and a weak smile.

"Good night, Shepard. I will be anxiously awaiting your arrival. I'll pick you up at the docks."

 

* * *

 

When the Normandy came in he stood leaning against the railing watching the rest of the crew filter out from the airlock until he saw Shepard walking beside of Tali. "Shepard, over here."

She said something more to Tali who nodded then left as he started to make his way over to her. "You look like shit. Come on, time to go home, shower and get some sleep." She started to say something to him and he just shook his head, taking her by the elbow and leading her to a C-Sec car.

"What the hell is this, Kolyat?" She chuckled as he shoved her inside the car and grinned at her.

"I'm kidnapping my wife." His own smirk flashed at her for a moment.

"Well, this certainly isn't a nondescript vehicle." She gave a slightly tired chuckle as he shut the door and hurried around to the other side.

"No, but it is one that can use the emergency lanes instead of dealing with traffic." He programmed in his ID code and the car raised up into the C-Sec lane and sped off toward home.

 

* * *

 

She tiredly made her way up the stairs after promising to turn off her omni tool for at least 3 hours after her shower and sleep. She gave a smile as she noticed the hot tub had been filled and was waiting for her with a small basket of her favorite scented items sitting on a small stool along with fluffy towels. She began to remove her clothes and heard a noise behind her.

"I hope you like the items, Father told me your favorites and where you usually bought them. I was thinking it may help you to relax for the bit of time you're here."

"Thank you. Smelling good is the last thing I'm usually worried about on the ship. It's a nice gesture, one that is appreciated." She gave him a small kiss on the frill and he sucked in a breath.

"Shepard," his voice was pitched low and she heard the hum underlying it. His body had started to vibrate and he closed his eyes. His breathing became harsher as he fought his instinct to take his wife in his arms and kiss her, make love to her as he has wanted to do for months. But as the widow in this sort of marriage, by custom, it was her choice when or if the marriage would be actually consummated, even though they had shared a bed many times before.

Her eyes roamed over his face, seeing the way his whole body was tensed with holding back. Her thoughts turned to Thane and to this whole arrangement they made. She went into it with both eyes open, she knew what would happen when he had passed. She had hurt Kolyat so many times, some unknowingly, some out of the deep well of sadness she had felt since Thane was gone. He had given her the time she requested, grudgingly, but hadn't pushed too much. She made a decision. He was her husband, Thane wanted them to be happy together, and she wanted to fulfill Thane's wish. No matter how much she still missed and wanted to be with him.

She lifted her hand and ran her fingers over the hard ridge above the soft wine red ribbing, then placed a gentle kiss on the soft tissue, her tongue licking carefully along it. He let out a deep husky moan. "Shepard, I can't take your teasing today. Please, if you don't mean it, stop, before I do something to unintentionally hurt you."

Her hand moved to the front of his coat and began to undo the straps and closures along the front before slipping inside to feel his cool scales against her hand, his body trembling under her palm. She shifted and used both hands to push the coat from his body. His eyes opened and he looked down into her face, when the leather fell to the floor he leaned forward kissing her as gently as he could in his state of arousal. What he really wanted to do was to rip the rest of the clothes from their bodies and bury himself deep in her tight heat.

He was breathing heavily as he placed his forehead against hers, "give me a second." He felt her tip her head and she reached down removing his gloves before she finished undressing. She stepped away from him and twisted her hair up high on her head, adding several pins to keep it in place before she lowered herself into the hot tub with a sigh.

He stood there for several more minutes, he knew he couldn't stay in the bathroom for much longer, the steam from the tub was already making his lungs feel tight but he needed to be with her. He turned up the fans as high as they could go before easing his pants off, a slight hiss as he had to press on his rock hard erection to undo the buttons, then a light sigh as he freed himself from the tight confines. He quickly stripped the rest of the way out of his clothes then entered the tub beside her.

Reaching over he grabbed the bucket of items and dragged it closer before sitting down and pulling her onto his lap. Between kisses he washed her and could feel her relaxing even more before he let go of the small sponge and started to use his hands on her. His kisses becoming increasingly rougher and his hand searched between her legs, his finger touching her center before withdrawing. "You are too tight for this, I do not wish to cause you harm, Shepard."

He carefully picked her up, climbed out and both hurriedly dried before he carried her to the bed and placed her in the middle. He leaned forward kissing her as he knelt on the bed. His lips placing soft kisses on her chin then her jaw and collarbone. His hand on her breast as he licked and kissed his way to it, hearing her groan and feeling the shifting of her legs on the bed. "Relax, Shepard," his whispered voice came to her as he kissed her trembling abdomen, taking a moment to breath in her scent before his fingers and tongue drifted lower causing her to arch her back and gasp.

He took his time, touching and tasting her. The sighs and gasps coming from her ringing in his ears as his lower body lightly thrust against the bed seeking friction. Finally her body bowed and shuddered, her liquid heat flooded his mouth and he slowed his fingers and tongue, gently bringing her body down from its release. When her body lowered back to the bed he moved up her body until his lips once more met hers. The taste of her still on his tongue.

He grasped her leg and wrapped it up high on his body before guiding himself to that still quivering opening and sliding inside. His own moan muffled by her mouth. When he hilted he stopped, her body still so tight around his, he let out a hiss when she clamped around him. "Keep doing that, Shepard and this will be all over as soon as it's begun. I've waited to be inside you again for so long, it's taking everything in me to not spill like a youth."

She raised her eyebrow and squeezed her muscles around him and he grunted. "It's going to be like that is it." He withdraw and inched his way back inside and ground the small smooth scales of his groin into her, her mouth open on a silent gasp. "We'll play more next time, when you aren't so tired and I'm not on the verge of an orgasm just from the slightest thrust into you." He slid out and thrust back in, his hips snapping against hers. "Sorry, but this isn't going to last," he moaned as he picked up the speed of his thrusts, his body starting to thrust fast and hard in her until he groaned as the heat of his seed filled her. He dropped a kiss on her forehead then rolled to his side, taking her with him and staying buried in her as deep as he could.

"I've missed you, Shepard. I've missed being with you." He held her close to him and felt her take a shuddering breath and a feeling of hot tears on his scales hit him. He tightened his hold on her and stroked her hair until he felt the change in her breathing shortly after he had softened and slipped from inside of her.

Several hours later he felt her stir from her sleep. She stretched and yawned, her eyes opened and he warily looked at her. She only smiled and ran her hand over his frill ridge as he let out the breath he was holding and kissed her, his hands once more on her body.

Hours later with one last kiss she moved from the bed and went to shower. He dressed in a set of loose silk pants and headed to throw together something for dinner. He heard her come down the spiral staircase and called out dinner was ready and not to turn on that damn omni tool yet. He heard her snort from behind him only seconds before her arms circled around him, a light kiss placed on his back.

"After dinner I have to though. There are several drops that Garrus is making for the people wanting me to gather their artifacts. At least most of them are offering aid now to the building of the Crucible, even if it is only the information that the scientists have to decode from the statue or disk or whatever else they wanted us to fetch. Did you know there was a salarian that came up with the idea of cloning a kakliosaur for the krogan so they could actually ride them into battle on some of the more toxic worlds? Even more amazing... EDI actually found the skull of one."

He laughed and turned in her arms holding two plates of ... something. "It isn't much, but I found a few things that were err... close to fresh. I'll be glad when this is over and we can begin to rebuild. I know it's hard out there and you are all working hard. Thank you, Shepard." He gave her a light kiss and set the plates on the small bar of the kitchen where they usually ate.

An hour later she was in the office and started to receive her messages, the filters that EDI and Traynor set up sorted out the junk mail then filed the requests of the crew into a separate folder, the numerous help requests into another and the unknown into yet another. She went through that one first, hitting the spam button to add it to the filter or moving it into one of the other ones.

The crew wanted to spend time with her again and she sent replies to most of them, except one that she sat staring at, Major Kaidan Alenko, wanted to have lunch at Apollo's tomorrow afternoon. She sat there chewing a thumbnail and tapping her other hand on the desk when Kolyat came into the room carrying a mug of fresh tea. "What's going on, Shepard?"

"Hmm, oh, the crew wants more time together. The closer we feel we are getting to ending this the more they become tense and unsure, they need the time we have together to work things out I guess."

He bent down and read the message on the screen frowning, he knew that name, Alenko was the person his Father had mentioned from the hospital. Her old lover that had called her a traitor and turned his back on her. He was on board? He wanted to meet for lunch? He let out a low growl. "I didn't know this guy was back on your ship. What the hell does he want to have lunch with you for?"

She let out a sigh and leaned back on the chair, her head resting against his stomach. "I don't know, maybe to apologize for what he said? Maybe to just have lunch with a friend? I haven't a clue. I'm trying to decide if I want to accept or not. I should accept, he has done a good job since coming back on the ship." His hands moved to her shoulders and started to knead the muscles there.

"I don't like this. He doesn't know you are married, does he?" His thumbs found a particularly knotted area and started to work it.

"No, but everyone on the ship knows I had recently lost Thane. I doubt flirting and trying to get back together with me is the reason behind wanting to have lunch."

"If you decide to go, I'm going to be there as well. I'll be a table nearby, just in case it is actually just wanting to talk." She sighed as the tension finally released and her shoulders sagged just slightly in relief.

"Traynor wants to come over, she'll probably squeal at the hot tub and want a bath, so be prepared to stay downstairs, for the Gods only know how long, while she's in there. Tali wants a girls vid night so you will need to go out, maybe with Cortez and James? Garrus will go too. Knowing them you'll be dragged to a bar. Samara is in town she wants to stop by, so have some refreshments ready for her if we can. Jack is stopping by tomorrow night after Samara leaves. Liara, well she will probably drop by in the afternoon, we'll talk with her then, if she doesn't already know. She knows everything else that is going on apparently."

"You're supposed to be resting while you're here. That does not sound like you will be resting at all. You should tell them that you can't be doing this all the time." She could hear the frown in his voice and for once she agreed with him. The whole thing with the geth and quarians took too much out of her, she already felt worn out, but that just made it much worse.

"We're here for a week, Kolyat, the ship needs repairs and we have to try and restock the medical supplies, so I'll have time to rest."

He hummed at her then pulled her up and out of the chair. "Now's a good time, shut off the terminal for a bit and come sit with me in the living room." She raised her eyebrow then reached down typing out a quick reply to Alenko, hitting send then shut off the screen.

She was fast asleep again even before the vid was done. He reached for the light throw on the back of the couch, then as carefully as he could moved around and settled her on top of him and covered them both. "Glyph, turn the lights off."

The next morning she woke wondering why she was laying on a pillow that breathed then remembered the night before, she let out a sigh and kissed his chest before she got up to get ready for the day. He had breakfast for her in the warmer and was using the other bathroom when she came back down. He walked past her stark naked and stopped for a kiss before jogging up the steps to get dressed.

He was brewing Thane's favorite tea when the chime rang. Glyph announced it was Liara and he opened the door. He greeted her and went to get the tea when he heard her start playing the piano. Shepard leaned over the railing and nodded at him when he looked up. He waited in the kitchen as she went to talk with Liara, picking up the holo of Thane that stood in its customary spot on the piano, Kolyat never failed to find some type of flower to place in the tiny vase beside of it. There was still a slight scent from the incense that he had burned from this mornings meditation and prayer lingering in the air.

She listened to Liara then told her about the Rite, making her Kolyat's wife. Liara only smiled and told her she had known from the day Thane had filed the paperwork. She wished them both well and told her if there was anything she needed just ask. Shepard gave her a smile and thanked her as he wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling the back of Shepard's head. Liara asked if she could stay there while they went out, she needed Glyph's help with a few things and it was easier just using the copy that was installed in the apartment.

Kolyat went ahead to Apollo's when a C-Sec officer was complaining about the jamming signals that Cerberus had used. She gave him a copy of the schematic that she had found on Rannoch then headed down the steps, finding Kaidan already there sitting at a table near the railing. Kolyat was a few tables over with a cup of tea in front of him and an asari trying to chat him up. He held up his hand, the artificial sunlight glinted off his wedding ring and she huffed before stomping away. She wondered when he had time to get one made or did he and Thane do it when she had been gone. She didn't even know he had one until this morning, he never wore it. She made a mental note to ask about it.

"Kaidan." She said as she sat down, her eyes met Kolyat's and then looked toward her lunch companion giving him a slight smile before picking up the menu.

Kolyat was watching the other table only glancing away once in awhile to look over the small river that ran through the ward. There were still blackened areas where the attack from Cerberus had raged. Just months earlier the people here thought that the Reapers couldn't reach them, wouldn't dare to come here. They had either forgotten, swallowed the lies told to them by the Council or hadn't thought the Reapers or Cerberus would dare to try and attack the Citadel. Now that the war had reached them here they were struggling to hide their fear, to pretend that everything was fine, when it was not. Now they turned to Shepard, to the ones that had for years told them it was coming, tried to warn them only to have those warnings fall on deaf ears.

He glanced back as he heard a woman's raised voice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Thane was murdered by Cerberus a few short months ago and you ask me to come here to try and flirt with me? I thought you were going to seriously apologize for not only calling me a traitor but saying I cheated on you, when it was you that made it clear you wanted nothing to do with me. I met Thane and fell in love. He was everything to me and you sit there trying to start this shit? I can't believe you."

Kolyat stood up and started walking toward their table when Shepard got up from her chair. When Kaidan stood and grabbed her arm, Kolyat ran at him. "Get your fucking hands off her."

"Kolyat, don't. It's fine. He was just letting go of me, weren't you Kaidan." Her voice had gone dangerously low and he dropped his hand from her. "Let's go home. Udina made him a Spectre, C-Sec can't touch him, even for assault."

Kaidan grimaced at her and saw Kolyat gently looking at her arm, seeing the redness where he had gripped her. "You're damn lucky my Father wasn't here. Spectre or not, you dared to lay a hand on Shepard. For that alone you should be punished by our own laws. I want him off the Normandy."

"Let's just go. We have a lot to do before some of the others stop by." She took his hand and started to pull him away. "He's not worth the trouble. We need him in this fight, as long as he maintains protocol he'll have to stay."

"What right do you have to tell Shepard to take me off the ship? You're just her dead husband's kid."

"I'm her...," he felt her squeeze his arm and resisted telling him he was her husband. "I'm her family," he growled as he let Shepard finally pull him away from the human.

He didn't say much to her on the way back nor did he say anything when about an hour after they had arrived back at the apartment Traynor sent a message through. Shepard nailed it when she told him that the woman would let out a squeal and want to use the tub. He noted that it would need to be drained and cleaned, he didn't particularly care for others using their main bathroom. Several hours later he was flipping through the Citadel only channels, as all of the other ones were out due to the comm satellites being gone, when the women finally came back down.

After she left he went to start cleaning the bathroom while Shepard went through her messages again. The rest of that night was just them so he didn't mind so much. Over the next week several of the others had stopped by and the men dragged him to the Purgatory for drinks while Shepard sat through the showing of Fleet and Flotilla with Tali.

The night before she left to go back out she held up his hand in the glow of the holo fireplace as they reclined on the couch, their clothes scattered over the living room. "When did you get a wedding band made?"

"The day after you accepted the pact with Thane and I. We went out shopping and the first stop was to a jewelry store to have one crafted for me. Father didn't want to be without his when the burial rites were performed."

"Why wait till now to wear it?" She ran her fingers over the band that was different than the one she had on.

"Because one of the dictates of the Rite states that any symbols of marriage can not be worn until the widow or widower allows the new husband or wife to join their bodies. Even though in my heart we were already married the moment you accepted me as your lover, I could not legally or morally wear the token until you fully accepted me again. After you fell asleep, the night you came home and we made love, I brought it from the safe and put it on. You are my wife in every sense of the word now, Shepard."

The next morning before she left he asked her to wear his ring then presented her with a delicate gold necklace, "to honor your marriage with my father, I give you this chain to use to keep the symbol of his love and devotion to you close to your heart, while you wear my symbol of the same on your finger as a show of our bonding."

He waited patiently for her to decide if she was going to wear his ring or to keep wearing Thane's. She slowly drew the slim gold band from her finger and placed it on the chain. He held it out and fixed the clasp around her neck. She kissed the ring then slid it under her uniform and into the undershirt beneath, the metal quickly warmed to her skin temperature.

Kolyat held the tungsten and teal carbon fiber inlaid band between his fingers and slid it on her before kissing her, moments later they headed out the door and to the docks.


	13. Chapter 13

* * *

 

 

When Kolyat answered the vid com he saw Shepard looking haggard, pale as a ghost with tear tracks and bruises all over her face. "Goddess, what happened? Where are you?"

"We just left Thessia... what was left of it. It was him... he was here, I almost had him Kolyat. The bastard was right in front me, his head dead center in the crosshairs of my scope. The coward called in a gun ship to stop us from getting the information we needed. Damn it, Kolyat." She had started to break down in great wracking sobs.

"Shepard, I wish I was there to hold you, to comfort you. What is happening now? Can you come home for a while?" His own voice was strained, the bastard that had stolen the rest of his father's life had slipped from his wife's grasp and he hadn't been there to help. He watched as she roughly brushed the tears from her face.

"EDI and Traynor tracked him to Horizon, we have several stops to make on the way but we are heading there now. I also need to track down what Hackett sent me after, supposedly it is something that took down a Reaper, we just don't know what it is yet. I won't be coming home for a while, but will send you a message when I can."

"Alright, be careful Shepard and come home to me when you can." Kolyat turned off the vid screen and slowly made his way to the desk where he was looking over the intel given to him by Bailey on the increase in weapons, crime and refugee counts. Too many people in too small a space. He sat for a few minutes wondering why he was getting a terrible feeling in his gut ... something was wrong and it wasn't that his wife was out in the galaxy needing him, but so far away. Something else was bothering him.

After a few more minutes he stood and moved to the oversized aquarium that Thane had installed in the apartment as a surprise to Shepard before he had passed, it was now filled with the fish that she apparently had at one time on the Normandy and was being taken care of by one of her prior shipmates. They had been returned to her before the Citadel had been invaded and she brought them here, adding them to the ones that Thane had already bought for her.

He frowned then closed his eyes as he thought of his Father. He had yet to go to the stash houses and locations to gather up the rest of the papers, credits and weapons that his Father apparently had all over the Citadel. His eyes opened and he hurried to put his coat on, grabbed his C-Sec ID and attached his pistol to his thigh. It was time to check on those weapons, they just may be needed. The clenching in his gut eased and he could have sworn he felt something like a hand brush his head as he left the apartment.

 

* * *

 

Shepard sat in her cabin, the horrors they had found on Horizon were running through her head. She lifted the glass to her lips once more and the liquid burned a path down her throat as she swallowed. How was she to tell Kolyat, that once again, the bastard that murdered his Father slipped through her fingers.

"Commander, ETA to Despoina is 5 hours."

"Thanks, Joker."

She poured another drink then filled out the reports to send to Hackett. Now it was time to find this so called Reaper killer.

 

* * *

  
Kolyat made mental notes of everything that he found, checking it against his memory of what Thane had told him would be there. It had taken hours to gather it all up and take it back to the apartment. Going through the ritual of breaking the weapons down, cleaning them then reassembling them. One after the other as his thoughts drifted to Shepard and what she could possibly be doing at that moment.

His hands started to shake suddenly, a tightness in his chest and several moments of panic. The feeling of water pressing in on him and a pain entered his head. A whispered, _"Breathe, Kolyat"_ was heard in his mind, then what felt like a warm, calming breeze blew over him. Whatever had gripped him let go all of a sudden and he dropped the pistol he had been holding.

He sent through a call to the Normandy and the pilot answered, telling him that Shepard and her crew was down on a planet that was covered in a giant ocean, they couldn't get to her as something took out the shuttle when it tried to get close. They had one message get through from the shuttle pilot then a report of a Reaper incoming. They just had to wait.

Kolyat wasn't very good at waiting, he paced, he packed up the weapons, stashing several around the apartment in hidden compartments among the ones that Thane had hidden there. Heatsinks and credit chits, packs of high calorie meal replacement bars and water containers were also stashed. Filter straws were added as an after thought since those were still fairly easy to come by, but he didn't know for how much longer.

The hours passed and finally he heard the notice of an incoming message. He was fully expecting Shepard to be on the comm, instead it was Garrus. He quickly informed Kolyat what happened and that Shepard was still recovering from exposure and whatever that Leviathan had done to her, but she was alive and they were heading to the Citadel.

 

* * *

 

He met them at the dock and before anyone could say more than a few words to them, hustled her into a skycar. The reporters were hounding her for interviews, people shouting at her that she needed to find so and so's husband...wife...mother, etc, even as he pressed in the coordinates for their apartment.

She let out a small sigh of relief as he helped her undress and enter the hot tub that he had ready for her. Telling her to just relax a few minutes and lowered the lights, activated the music file that he found in the apartment's data files and closed the door to the bathroom. He lit the candles and the incense that he had found stashed in a trunk of Thane's, recognizing them from the night of the Tofi dinner and finally realizing their purpose after reading the attached note on them.

Changing his clothes to a loose cotton pants and tunic before laying out a flowing gown of cream colored satin for her, once he was sure everything was ready he went back into the bathroom and carefully tended to her before leading her to the bed and the holding up the gown for her to see.

"You're as bad as Thane for buying me fripperies. Where did you even find something like this during the war?"

He shrugged, "I bought it before Dad died. He had a penchant for the shorter silk shifts and robes for you. I wanted to see you in a long gown that flowed about you." He held up the lacy short jacket that went over it. "You're beautiful."

She let out a snort, "I look like shit. I saw my reflection in the mirror. Huge bags under my eyes and even more scars."

He gently kissed her, his voice dropped several octaves, sending a slight shiver along her spine, "you're beautiful." He kissed her again, his hands cupping her face and a low moan came from her as she wrapped her arms around him.

He was panting when the kiss ended, "we'll finish this later, but now I have a surprise that I hope you like." She cocked her eyebrow at him as he grinned at her and after adjusting the noticeable bulge in his pants, headed for the steps tugging her behind him. He pulled out her chair out and after she was seated he headed for the kitchen.

After placing the covered plate in front of her he raised his eye ridge and that damn smirk showed back on his face as he lifted the lid. Fragrant steam rose causing her nose to twitch. On a bed of fresh white rice with the scent of fragrant jasmine laid a delicately seared and glazed piece of pinkish fish, surrounded by tiny tomatoes, sliced vegetables in yellows, oranges and greens. She blinked up at him, "how the hell did you pull this off?"

"It wasn't easy." He kissed her cheek and headed back to the kitchen. His own plate was in front of him before he poured wine into their glasses and used his omni tool to lower the lights and turn on music in this room as well.

"Since our relationship started out a bit different than usual, we never had the chance to date as most couples do before marrying. So think of this as our first date as a husband and wife."

She couldn't help but give him a smile. Even one night to relax was a godsend in this war.

 

* * *

 

"Kolyat? Can you come to the office for a moment? I need to talk to you about something." Shepard called out from where she was sitting at her desk after coming back from the meeting with the Councilors.

"What is it?" Kolyat asked as he came in and leaned down to peer at the screen over her shoulder.

"Joker asked to have dinner with me tonight at a place on Silver Sun Strip. Do you know it?"

"Yeah, it's a what do you humans call it... sushi place? They serve raw fish and rice wrapped in seaweed. Dad and I ate there a few times as it was the closest we could find to what we would have eaten on Kahje. They have this huge aquarium for the walls and floors. If you're going don't go wearing a dress... especially with no panties as the people on the lower floor can see straight up."

She leaned to the side and stared at him, that damn smirk was back. "Oh really? And how would you know?"

He kissed her temple, "I wasn't always married to you..."

"You're a damn perv, just like Thane."

He laughed as he walked out the room, "it runs in the family I guess."

 

* * *

 

Kolyat raced to the skycar dealership that EDI had relayed to him after the call had come in to C-SEC about a disturbance on the Strip. He had just known that his wife was in the center of the mess and the call from Garrus alerting him to it and EDI's messages and finally her patching the comms together, told him that it was bad. A stranger told him to stay off the comm that it was putting Shepard in danger, Kolyat told her to go fuck herself that Shepard was family and there was no way he would let her deal with this herself.

He skidded around the corner of the dealership and saw several people in heavy armor with strange weapons inside the store, looking like they were waiting for someone. Kolyat jumped for the ladder that was hanging from the side and quickly climbed up, used his omni tool's plasma cutter to cut away the vent cover and slipped inside.

He made his way to the vents above the mercs when he heard them talking, "the mole said she was heading this way. Some dumb fuck let her get a hold of one of our weapons. We can't let her get past us."

"I don't like this, it was supposed to be simple. Lure her to the restaurant, she would be unarmed because of the Council's new regulations on safety," the man let out a snort. "Then take her out. This is not simple, and this is Commander Shepard we're talking about. You know what will happen if they can't stop her."

"You better not let the boss hear you say that. You remember what happened to the last guy that said it."

EDI's voice came over his comm link telling him that Shepard was right outside the building and she was out of ammo. He removed the grate, soundlessly, and just as he heard the one say they spotted her, he dropped through the vent.

For a split second she had thought it was Thane's ghost that she witness dropping from the ceiling and taking out both the mercs that had been waiting for her, then the light flashed off of scales that reminded her of a blue summer sky on Earth and her eyes widened. Kolyat.

He opened the door and waved her in.

"You can't even go to have dinner with a crew mate without starting a mess that C-SEC... namely me... has to clean up." He kissed her cheek and brushed the glass shards that still clung to her hair off of her, before applying medigel to her cuts. "It's damn lucky you took my advice and wore something other than a dress."

"Yeah, but I forgot the panties."

Kolyat hand halted and he grinned, "oh really? Maybe we should just check that your legs aren't damaged and neither was that delightful spot between them that gets hot and feels oh so tight around me."

"Not now you perv, I got mercs after me, we need to move. Look for a panel or something."

When they got outside of the store, Joker told them that he had stopped to pick up someone named Brooks and that she called for a C-SEC pick up. Kolyat frowned, knowing that he would have been called immediately as the Officer on the scene and Bailey hadn't said anything. "Shepard... that's not procedure."

He quickly sent off request to dispatch to check for details when Shepard pointed to a blue shuttle heading their way. When the side door slid open and more mercs popped out she shoved Kolyat to the side and stared at him across the small opening of cover. They heard a huge crash and saw a red armored krogan dropping down onto the shuttle from a window several stories up. After Wrex had disabled the shuttle and killed the mercs he tossed a weapon to Shepard and eyed Kolyat.

A deep breath in, "another drell, Shepard? This one smells like that assassin a bit...his son? Banging him too, from the smell of lust coming from the both of you."

Kolyat growled at the huge krogan who only started to laugh.

"Wrex... he's Thane's son, and my husband now."

"Hope the boy can handle you Shepard. If you get bored with him don't forget the breeding requests on Tuchanka are still active."

Kolyat didn't have time to say anything before the mercs showed back up. Joker let them know he was on the way and they ran for the pick up spot. Kolyat taking a few seconds to send off the inquiry to dispatch. A negative response came up, no call for C-SEC had gone out for that location, nothing including Spectre Shepard at all. He sent a notice to Bailey to send out investigators and attached a quickly typed out report of what happened at the scene.

They took the shuttle to Shepard's apartment and were met outside by the rest of the crew. He passed the data to Garrus and Shepard while the others kept Brooks busy at the other end of the living room. Shepard wandered over to Samantha Traynor and asked her to work with Liara to gather as much information as she could about both Brooks and the weapons. Liara was also to dig into the C-SEC records and find out how their security could be bypassed like that.

After everyone left Kolyat set the security and got ready for bed, a message came in over the C-SEC line on his omni tool. Bailey let him know they have the reports and went over it all. There was nothing showing up in any database that even looked like one of those weapons, no new merc groups had been causing problems and he couldn't find a breach in their protocol. Just in case sent a tracker to Kolyat's omni tool that was separate from the main line, as a precaution.

 

* * *

 

The next morning the crew showed back up again, including Brooks. A few threw questioning looks at why Kolyat was there but Garrus and Liara steered their questions away from it. The intel that Liara was able to come up with pointed to a man named Khan, and a recording pretty much cemented his involvement in what the mercs were doing, even if was selling them illegal guns and mechs. Garrus wondered why they needed heavy duty Atlas mechs to begin with and Wrex asked what they were doing next.

Liara told them that Khan was hosting a charity ball and it would be a good opportunity to get near him. Of course with Brooks happening to be the only one that wasn't decked out in the latest tech and surprise ... surprise, was the only one with the technical means of bypassing the security using old school methods, she was included. Garrus flicked a mandible and let out a low hum from his subharmonics. Kolyat gave him a double blink and a very slight nod. They both understood it was either a trap or something else to get to Shepard.

"Now who is to go as Shepard's date?"

EDI declined as no mechs were allowed, Tali told them that no quarians were allowed inside either as the were always suspected of cheating because of their suit's capabilities.

Wrex told her that she would have better luck getting a varren in a fancy getup than she had him.

"What about Kolyat? He's not part of the crew and he's your step son, he wouldn't cause suspicion."

Kaidan said from across the table.

They hadn't wanted to bring him into it because of his connection to Shepard and C-SEC.

"That would work. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Shepard to be spending time with her family and as long as Kolyat doesn't approach the gaming tables it should be alright. Due to their eidetic memory they aren't allowed to gamble, but there isn't a regulation about them not going there for other reasons." Liara quickly informed them then sent for the tickets. "It's black tie, so we need to get you both formal clothing."

 

* * *

 

They walked down the carpet heading for the open doors of the casino, Kolyat felt like a complete idiot in the tuxedo that Liara had picked out, Shepard assured him he was incredibly handsome in it, which seemed to cheer him up along with a promise of a reward later that night after this was done. The questions were shouted at them about who he was and what he was doing with Commander Shepard, several that had known about her marriage to Thane yelled asking if she had a drell fetish.

Kolyat growled and would have punched the woman if Shepard hadn't had a grip on his arm and whispered that Al'Jilani wasn't worth it. She had already punched her and sent her flying several times and the reporter just got stupider each time.

It took a while but they made it to the room where Khan was hold up in, only to find him dead. Kolyat accessed the last incoming call then dialed it. He let out a snort when a distorted figure showed up on the screen. Only a coward hides their identity or someone with a deep secret. He blinked when he heard the woman called Brooks was unable to trace the call. There had been plenty of time to run that trace. He had been copying several documents that was behind a different firewall than the one that had its data erased, presumably by the person that killed the man. The security was tight... only someone that had an appointment or had been known would have been able to get in there tonight, unless they snuck in like they had, but that had taken hours and the man had been alive after they had arrived, but before Brooks had went into the vent system. He looked at her again his brain starting to run various scenarios.

When they got back to the apartment everyone split up and EDI said she would work with Brooks to try to repair the data from the hard drive. Shepard knew EDI would keep an eye to make sure nothing happened to the intel. Shepard went upstairs to change and Kolyat slipped up the other set of stairs then ran through the small reading area that Thane had set up and into their bedroom, locking the door behind him.

She closed her eyes and let out a small groan as she felt his hands cup her breasts from behind. "Do you have any idea what I wanted to do to you tonight when I saw you wearing this long gown?"

"The same thing I wanted to do when you came into the room in that tux? Slowly strip it from you and run my tongue over each part of you that was revealed."

He growled as he lowered the small zipper in the back, his firm lips grazing her bare skin. She had worn neither a bra nor panties tonight and it had drove him crazy knowing she was naked under that sheath of silk and sequins. When the dress dropped to pool around her feet he stood up and turned her, kissing her as he started to remove his jacket. She brushed his fingers aside and took over. Soon his jacket and shirt was lying in a black puddle next to her champagne colored dress.

Her tongue traced his abs as her hands stroked along his stripes and she knelt in front of him to undo the tight pants he was wearing, his erection springing free as they fell away. His eyes closed briefly as he felt her hot tongue tracing a path over the slight ridges on his cock before taking him into her mouth. He grit his teeth and clenched his jaw so he wouldn't loudly moan or call her name as she took him deep down her throat. He let out a deep humming noise before he touched her jaw and gave a gentle thrust into her mouth, sending him deeper still, a few more thrusts and he hissed as he withdrew completely and had her stand up.

Her eyebrow raised as that smirk appeared on his own lips and he dropped in front of her, his own tongue and fingers started to work her and he glanced up seeing her covering her mouth to muffle her cries as she bucked into his mouth. He stood, backing her until her buttocks hit the dresser behind her. He wrapped one long leg around him before kissing her and planting her hands firmly on the plastisteel of the furniture. He thrust hard and hilted with a groan. The hard, fast rhythm he set had the items on the dresser rocking and a few fell to the floor, finally grabbing her around the waist and picking her up, slamming her against the wall next to them.

He didn't stop his possession of her and hissed when he felt her teeth sink into his neck, as her body convulsed around him, sending him over the edge and spilling himself deep in her, his own teeth had fastened to her neck biting and then sucking hard as she groaned next to his aural canal. When he withdrew he kissed her hard, whispering, "round two in the shower later, I want to know that you are still filled with me, that my seed is dripping from you. I'll wash you later, then fuck you again and again tonight, until you can barely walk in the morning."

 

* * *

 

EDI notified them that Shepard's Spectre code had been used in the archives and they all raced there, to find a surprise. Cerberus no only brought Shepard back but had also made a clone of her. One that thought that she could just waltz in and take the real Shepard's place. She learned otherwise when the crew chased after her and was encountered by both the clone and Brooks. After being released from their impromptu imprisonment they headed for the Normandy.

The clone and Shepard were both hanging from the open cargo bay doors, but Kolyat didn't hesitate. He grabbed his wife's arm and pulled her up. The scent of their earlier lovemaking still clinging strongly to her. The clone looked up at them and seconds later fell to her death when Shepard stomped on her fingers, crushing them, after telling her it was her punishment for trying to steal her ship.

Brooks died a few minutes later when she tried to flee after being arrested, twin shots from two pistols hit her square in the back, one held by Shepard the other by Kolyat, he hissed that no one tries to impersonate his wife and only a fool would think he couldn't tell the difference between a fake and the real thing.

After he spent several hours at C-SEC headquarters going over everything that had happened he made his way home, tiredly walking through the door and finding Shepard fast asleep on the couch. He picked her up and carried her up to their bedroom, too tired to do anything more than tuck her in, undress and slide between the sheets next to her.


	14. Chapter 14

* * *

 

 

Kolyat rolled over and reached for Shepard only to feel cool sheets under his fingertips, he let out a sigh and got up to search for his wife.

He found her in the home office looking at yet more messages on her terminal, transferring some that she seemed important to her omni tool while deleting others. He bent to kiss her cheek and told her not to spend all morning in there, he had things he wanted to do with her today as she was leaving tomorrow. She gave him a brief nod then turned her attention back to the screen.

Two hours later the door chime went off and Kolyat went to answer it, finding EDI on the other side. When the AI was told where Shepard was, Kolyat went back to cleaning, only to have to stop to answer the door again a short time later. This time it was Joker who hobbled in, an hour later they both left, a widely grinning Joker made him slightly nervous as the door closed. He frowned when he heard his name being called.

Shepard swiveled in her chair and faced him as he walked into the room. She didn't wait to hear him ask the question that was on his face before she blurted out, "Joker wants me to throw a party, here in the apartment."

"A party? When?"

"Tonight. Since we are leaving in the morning and not sure when we are going to be able to come back. Kolyat, there is something I should have told you when I arrived but didn't."

He sat on one of the other chairs and she wheeled herself over in front of him, taking his cool, scaled hands in his. "EDI and Sam traced a tracker that was planted on that bastard when he attacked Miranda on Horizon. We know where he was heading, we know where the Cerberus base is. What we don't know is what we are going to find when we get there. The crew needs this. I - I think I need this as well. To prepare myself. This war... this whole thing feels like it is culminating in something major soon. Maybe the end is near, what end that may be I'm not sure. We still don't have all the pieces of the puzzle that is the Crucible yet. But if I can just get my hands on that Prothean VI that was stolen it will have that last piece to make it all click into place."

Kolyat gripped her hands tightly then brushed his thumbs back and forth as stared into her eyes. "Alright, so a party it is. While you take care of the business, you undoubtedly have here, I'll set everything up. But I have one request."

"What is it?"

"No matter what, tonight we spend together, in our bed. As soon as the party starts to die down. You join me in our bed and we make love until the dawn. I don't care if this apartment is still full of your crew, you spend the night in bed with your husband."

She looked into his dark eyes, seeing his inner eyelid blink once and his full, lush lips tighten as she hesitated with her answer. She gave him a quivering smile and nodded before leaning in and brushing her own lips against his. He tugged her off the chair and into his lap, his hands stripping off her clothes as hers worked on the multitude of straps on his.

 

* * *

 

Kolyat answered the door and waited while the delivery of the party supplies was dropped off in the living room and sighed as the stacks and stacks of boxes were piled up. That damn crew of hers went through more alcohol and junk food than anyone else he ever met. He checked the time then started to put everything away, an hour later the chime sounded. Steve and Samantha Traynor were at the door offering to help him set up for the party, an offer he gladly accepted.

 

* * *

 

When the door chime started ringing that evening Kolyat hurried to open it, letting in the crew and telling them that Shepard was almost ready. Drinks and snacks were in the kitchen, the dextro supplies clearly marked. He frowned when Kaidan came through the door but didn't say anything. Glyph had shown him the guest list earlier so knew that he had been invited, a tiny note said that she wanted the entire crew to relax and Kaidan had helped with the whole clone trying to steal her identity thing earlier.

The music started up and he glanced over seeing Jack fiddling with the sound system. He let out a sigh as the crew seemed to be intent on making his apartment, theirs, at least for the night. The crew had spread out, across all the furniture in pretty much every room by the time the last one had walked through the door.

Shepard came down the stairs and whispered something to him and he nodded then reluctantly went to mingle. Heading for Steve and Samantha first, then to Garrus.

Several hours later he heard the one Krogan laughing from near the door and went over to see what was going on.

"No, you can't come in."

*click*

"Yes, I like pie. But, no, you still aren't coming in."

*click* "Hehehe."

"Uh, having fun?" Kolyat asked.

"Yes. Watch this." The young Krogan pushed the button.

"What do you want?"

"Come on man. Let us in. We've been invited." Said an Asari who was dancing around in the overly crowded lift.

"No, you haven't. Crew only. Hehehe."

*click*

"Ok, I'll let you to it then." Kolyat said but Grunt seemed to be intent on the vid screen and the joy of pushing the holo button to deny the multitudes trying to crash their party.

He milled around some more, stopping in the kitchen/game area to watch the others dancing. When Samantha pulled Shepard into the center he spit out his drink as she started to shuffle her feet. Everyone started to whoop and laugh, not paying any attention to Garrus who happened to be shuffling in close to the same manner. Kolyat shook his head and wondered why his Father didn't warn him about not letting her dance.

He heard a thump coming from the upstairs area and jogged up the stairs seeing a very drunk, blue glowing Liara suspending Vega off the floor in a Lift. He waited to see what she was going to do to the guy only to see her drink some more then lower him down. He happened to glance over the railing and saw several of the men in the bar room with weapons pulled, "oh hell no."

He hurried down the stairs when he heard the first bottle shatter. "What the fuck do you guys think you're doing. You can't go shooting things in the apartment."

"Don't get your knickers in a wad, boy. They're just practice rounds, won't kill nobody." Said the merc in yellow as he rose up and shot the bottle that had been placed on a shelf.

It was like a house full of little kids... Kolyat thought as he raced after a wobbling, very drunk Tali and guided her into a bathroom, when he heard her say she was going to be sick. He took a second to lean against the wall to catch his breath before heading back out into the main room.

Samara was beside the piano holding the holo of Thane in her hands. "Your Father would be proud of the way you take your responsibilities to Shepard seriously. Normally, I would have just passed judgment on him for the lives he had taken. But during the time when I followed Shepard and her code was my code, I saw how hard he worked to redeem himself, to bring justice and light into the galaxy. That echoes throughout the galaxy and changes a person. It is good."

Kolyat blinked at the Justicar, she only gave a slight smile before carefully replacing the holo back in its place of honor, before she made her way gracefully to where the others were still dancing.

A few moments later he saw Shepard finally alone and went over to her, "come with me. I have something to show you."

She quirked her eyebrows and went with him up the stairs, stopping to laugh as the men were now trying to show off their physical prowess and James was struggling against the others for some reason. That reason became apparent when James all of a sudden dropped down and Kasumi popped into view, she appeared to have been sitting on his back just before she fell off.

When everyone's attention was on the thief, Kolyat tugged on Shepard and dragged her into their bedroom and shut the door.

"Father had several stash houses and safe spots around the Citadel. I finally got around to searching them all out and I came across something that was meant for you." He opened a small box that he brought from the closet and handed her several OSD's.

"What's on them?"

"Messages. I think a couple were made when we were on Earth while he was trying to get access to you as your lawful spouse. The last one was made here, in the apartment a short time before he passed."

She grimaced, remembering those months of confinement when they let no one see her or let her communicate with anyone outside of interrogators. If it hadn't been for Thane's built up wealth over decades and a hell of a good lawyer, news casters and Human Rights Groups she may not have been able to see him at all.

Kolyat went to leave to give her privacy to view them when she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Stay."

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, swallowing his reply before nodding and sitting on the end of their bed. She slid the first of the four disks into the slot then backed up, sitting beside him before activating the holo screen.

Thane's image popped up on the screen and she drew in a shaky breath as she listened to him. By the time she activated the fourth one she was in tears and shaking from pent up emotions. Kolyat's arms were about her and holding her as they listened to Thane's hope and wish that the two of the find love with each other, that he would be waiting for them both on Kalahira's shores. He admonished Kolyat to take special care of their Siha, and for her to actually let him. She let out a small laugh then sobbed as for the final time she heard him tell her that he loved her, that he loved them both. Then the screen went dark.

They sat like that for several minutes until she calmed and told him that she was alright. She smiled and kissed him, whispering her thanks, then Kolyat said they should go check on their guests and he hoped the party was winding down as the group was wearing him out.

They milled about the crowd, finally seeing them start to slow down. Shepard called for everyone to gather around the one couch for a group holo. Kaidan stumbled a bit when Wrex shoved him telling him to get out of the way he wanted a good spot. By the time everyone was done, Liara was on one side of Shepard while Kolyat sat on the other side of her, his arm thrown across the back of the couch. EDI sat next to him with Joker on the far end. The Krogan took up the majority of the space behind them with the others squeezing in. "Oh wait." Kolyat said before Glyph took the holo. He got up and jogged to the piano, grabbing Thane's holo and carried it back handing it to Shepard.

"There, that's better." He sat back down next to his wife who leaned her head on his shoulder for the split second it took for Glyph to snap the shot. After they were done most of them went to talk quietly or to get that one last drink. Shepard told them all goodnight and be ready to go in the morning, then headed upstairs. Kolyat moved around making sure everything was locked up and taking a mental stock of anything broken. He sat Thane's holo back on the piano and straightened the small shrine, then fed the fish and took the other set of stairs up. Quickly moving through the reading area when he noticed only Samara was there looking like she was meditating and Samantha looking like she had barely made it to one of the couches before passing out. James seemed to be sprawled on the other one, an empty bottle in his hand. He stepped over the prone figure of Liara, gently snoring under one of the paintings and hurried into the bedroom, closing the door with a sigh behind him.

He heard her chuckling from the small closet and looked around the corner where she unwrapped the towel that was around her from a quick shower and dropped it into the basket. He let out a growl and quickly stripped his leathers off, throwing them into a different basket to take to the cleaners, before he grabbed her and tossed her over his shoulder heading for the bed.

She let out a low throaty laugh as she bounced when she hit the middle of it, he crawled up toward her as her legs parted and she reached down running a finger along her center. His tongue gave a long swipe along the dewy folds before he dragged his lips up her body to kiss her. His fingers teased along her opening then thrust in once, then again before he moved and stretched her as he filled her.

She groaned as she clutched his shoulders, "no, mmm, no foreplay?"

"Fuck. The. Foreplay." Each word was accompanied by a hard thrust into her body.

Her back arched as he drove into her harder, his lips clamping around one of her nipples and tugging on it. Her body rushed to find a climax, he grinned at her when she dug her head into the pillow and muffled a scream with her hand. His own hiss sounded when she clamped around him and squeezed. When she started to come down from her climax her teeth flashed at him and she pushed on his shoulder hard enough during his withdraw that he fully came out of her. He growled as he grabbed for her leg but she twisted from him and rolled to the other side of the bed, coming to her knees and turning toward him before he could mount her from behind.

"Oh no you don't." She shoved him and he fell to his back. She scrambled to straddle him and pinned his wrists to the bed, dragging them along the sheets until she had them above his head. She gasped as he thrust his hips up at her.

She raked her nails of her one hand over the thick stripe along his waist, then down his abdomen, his muscles contracting and quivering at her touch. Her fingers wrapped around his cock, and he hissed as she stroked him from base to tip before guiding him inside.

He moaned as she started to ride him, her body coming down hard on him and grinding against the small scales of his groin. Her nipples brushing against his chest with each motion. He gripped her hips as he started to thrust up in her, both of them gasping and moaning.

He held her down on him and lifted his upper body, hissing at the shifting of her body. He started to roughly kiss her, his one hand threading through her hair and tugging so her head tipped back, exposing her throat and neck to him. His lips and tongue moved down the column of her throat and lightly bit at the juncture where her shoulder met her neck and her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her hands on the smooth scales at the back of his head. Their bodies once more moving together, their moans filling their bedroom.

They both gave a startled gasp when their bedroom door opened. Kolyat went to yell at whoever came in but neither of them saw anyone. "What the hell?"

Shepard was panting next to his head and licked along his frill bringing his attention fully back to her and what they had been doing. He gave a light growl and bent her back more, her breasts thrusting up and bouncing slightly as he began to thrust inside her again. His other hand cupping one of her breasts and squeezing it, his lips closing around the nipple and sucking hard, causing her to hiss and groan.

He gasped and threw his head back when he felt her tighten around him again, "Gods, Shepard do it. I'm so fucking close, come with me." He thrust up harder, practically lifting her from her knees, they both gave low guttural cries as their bodies climaxed together.

This time neither one heard the door open, only when the man started to speak did they realize they had an audience.

"You're fucking your son. This is why you acted the way you did? You turned me down so you could fuck him? Did you wait until your precious husband's body was even cold before you moved on to his son? Or did you cheat on him like you did me?"

"Get the... get the fuck out of our bedroom, Kaidan. I'll deal with you in the morning," she raggedly panted. Kolyat held her close to him, shielding as much of her body from the other male's view as he could. His low growls were barely heard above their harsh breathing. Shepard dragged a hand over the back of his head and shoulder as they stared at the intruder.

"You better get the fuck out of here, now." Kolyat growled, wishing they weren't right in the middle of the bed but closer to his side table where he kept his Predator. He didn't care if the bastard was a Spectre, he had burst into their bedroom uninvited.

They heard someone's muttered curse and a tall figure appeared behind Kaidan. Garrus grabbed the man by the back of the shirt and pulled him away from the door. "What the hell is going on here? What do you think you're doing, going into Shepard's bedroom, especially when you aren't welcome in there." The door closed and Shepard let out a sigh and a curse, slowly lifting herself off of Kolyat and dropping to her back on the bed. The heels of her hands pressed into her eyes.

"Shit. We so didn't need that tonight."

Kolyat let out a sigh and got up heading for the bathroom and tripped over something. "What the fuck!" He flipped on the light and saw a leg sticking out past the bathroom door.

"For fuck sakes. What the hell is wrong with your crew, Shepard? Your damn Prothean is passed out in our bathroom. Does any of them respect boundaries?" Kolyat flipped off the light and grabbed a set of silk pants from his drawer and tossed her a long shirt from her own. "So much for a full night of making love with you." He slammed the drawer shut and then yanked the covers back on their bed before sliding under them with his back toward her.


	15. Chapter 15

* * *

 

 

A few hours later Kolyat awoke to the feel of Shepard's lips and tongue on his cock. He bowed his head and threaded his fingers through her hair as she sucked and licked him. He thrust his hips up gently, and she moaned around him. He tightened his grip on her hair as she slid her lips on him faster and her hand worked him harder. She felt him give one last thrust and hold her head down on him as he came. She swallowed as quickly as she could then slid her lips off him.

"We have only a few more minutes before the others will start to awaken," she whispered to him. He nodded before he rolled her onto her back and bent his head to her breast after he shoved her nightshirt up. His lips trailed down her body until he found her hot, dripping center and began to lick and suck on her clit. His fingers slid easily inside her to curl and stroke along the sensitive area inside. She started to pant and grind against his mouth. He held her down and sent his tongue deep inside her before swiping along her folds again. His tongue stroked against her clit as she held his head to her when she muffled a scream as her orgasm washed over her.

She panted as he brought her down from her release. A few moments later he let out a sigh as she kissed him once, then swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood.

Shepard woke Javik up and kicked him out of their bathroom. They needed to get a quick shower and dress before going downstairs. She didn't doubt that accusations and questions would bombard once they made their announcement.

They went through the upper level of the apartment and told the crew that was still there to meet in the living room. Some of the crew mumbled 'alright'and looked at Shepard and Kolyat and the others just nodded. Whether it was because of hangovers or whether they had heard what happened, neither one was sure.

Once everyone gathered in the small living room, she and Kolyat sat on a pair of bar stools. She opened her mouth to tell them about what happened when Kaidan beat her to it.

"Did you know our great Commander Shepard fucks her son?" He turned to the humans with the group expecting to see the looks of disgust in their eyes. Instead, he saw heated looks thrown his way, and only Zaeed and Joker had questioning looks on their faces. It wasn't the outrage he thought he would find.

"Let me know when you're finished making yourself sound like a class 'A' asshole," Shepard said as she crossed her arms under her breasts and Kolyat draped an arm around her. Kaidan snarled but didn't say anything afterward.

"I doubt you are, but since you've shut your mouth at least, then listen up. At the moment of Thane's death, Kolyat and I became married."

"You married your son right after his Dad died? That's disgusting," Kaidan said. Garrus told him to shut the fuck up.

"The three of us agreed to follow ancient drell custom. The Hanar Primacy and the Citadel already had our marriage registered when Thane submitted the papers. Kolyat and I finalized the marriage with the Alliance, a short time later. So when you came into our bedroom uninvited, you walked in on us having what could be our last night together. I put this party together to let you guys have a night of fun before we leave to finish Cerberus and Kolyat has put up with me spending a lot of time away from him during shore leave to spend it with each one of you that asked. Including you Kaidan when you invited me to meet you for lunch after Thane had just died. I thought you were going to apologize for being a dick and acting like a fool. Instead, you started to flirt." Many grumbles came from both humans and Xeno's around the room when Shepard paused in her speech. All eyes turned to Kaidan and the krogan bared their teeth. "Then we get interrupted and have to deal with this shit in the morning."

"We told several of the current human crew many months ago, several of the Xeno crew already knew of the custom and weren't surprised by it. After the war, we would have told the rest, if any of us survived, because I didn't want tension within the crew with others shoving the differences of old human morality rules on a different species. They didn't push theirs onto me, the three of us took a long time to discuss it and they answered any questions and concerns I had, ultimately they left it up to me to agree or disagree. I agreed, and I'm glad that I did. Thane was right; I needed someone that would care for me, would be here for me and would love me once he was gone. Kolyat does all of that for me, and more."

"None of my bloody business what you do, Shepard. I'm here to fight the Reapers not to be your fucking morality compass," Zaeed said and sat on a couch, a second later old Earth cartoons started. Jack and Grunt stomped over to sit beside him.

The Xeno's stared at Kaidan, and Tali congratulated them on their marriage only wishing Shepard had told her earlier so they could have thrown her a party.

James cracked his knuckles as he stared at Alenko knowing he couldn't say anything to the Major because of rank, then turned to the rest of the crowd, "I'm making eggs. Who wants some?"

Several of them gravitated toward the kitchen. Steve and Traynor stopped to ask if the two of them were alright and Traynor wished them a happy marriage.

Joker put his ball cap back on and shrugged. "Should have gotten some vid footage of them two going at it, perfect opportunity wasted."

EDI walked up to them and offered her congratulations and apologies for not monitoring their guests. "Don't worry about it EDI, watching this bunch, past making sure they don't blow anything up or tear anything apart or booby-trap the place, shouldn't have been necessary," Shepard assured her.

Javik snarled at Kaidan calling him a primitive then looked between Shepard and Kolyat. "In my cycle, we would have beat that primitive for daring to enter someone's private quarters. Then his tongue would have been cut out for speaking in such a way about his Superior officer. Finally, he would have been made an example of and killed in the most painful way possible for trying to cause dissension and possible mutiny in the ranks."

"You know Javik; your cycle sounds harsh. But in this case, I agree with him, Shepard. I think Dad had a baton in his to-go bag of weapons I shoved in the closet, want me to get it? He had a vast assortment of razor-sharp knives everywhere too." Kolyat grinned down at his wife and saw her lips twitch. "I have the access code to the tunnel that leads to the protein vats on the Zakara Ward."

"No, we're not killing him. What's going to happen is that he's to go back to the ship and gather his belongings under guard and then leave the Normandy. I sent a message to Hackett telling him a sanitized version of what happened and requested his reassignment." She turned to Kaidan, "As of this moment you are no longer part of the Normandy crew, your new assignment is on the SSV Trafalgar, Third Fleet, under the fleet command of Admiral Nitesh Singh. A shuttle will meet you at the dock to take you to it."

Garrus and EDI stepped up to stand on either side of Kaidan who began calling Shepard a bitch and that she had no right to remove him from the ship, he outranked her. "I just did. Get him out of here."

"I still think we should have dumped him in the vats, it's not too late, love," Kolyat said as they watched Garrus and EDI frog-march Alenko from the apartment.

After everyone had eaten and began to recover from their night of partying, they made their way to the Normandy. EDI and Garrus were outside the docking bay waiting for them and told her that Alenko was off the ship and had been picked up by several Marines just a few minutes ago. Garrus grinned as he said, "They didn't seem to be all that thrilled to get a Spectre on board their ship. Of course, that could have been because EDI replayed the footage from this morning when Kaidan tried to act all friendly to them."

The group gathered around Shepard as they stared at the Normandy, then slowly moved away to board. The last ones still standing there were Kolyat and Shepard. He wrapped an arm around her as she closed her eyes and leaned against him. They both stiffened slightly when the familiar scent of spice, leather and gun oil surrounded them.

"Thane...," Shepard whispered, and Kolyat held her closer.

_"I am glad to see you took time for yourself, Siha. For the others as well."_

"We wish you were there with us last night, Father."

_"I am always with both of you, Kolyat. I was there with you as you made love to our Siha; it brought me great joy as I watched the two of you moving together and to see the love blooming between you."_

"Still a pervert. I'm glad you were there, my love," Shepard said as a small smile lifted the corners of her lips.

_"Know that I shall be awaiting you both on the shore, but it is time to finish this, Siha. You are as ready as you can be, and Kolyat has gathered the resources he will need to survive as he awaits your reunion. I love you both."_

The scent faded away quickly, and they opened their eyes. Kolyat brushed the tears from his wife's face and kissed her gently as she stroked the rigid frill along the said of his head.

"Take care of yourself, Shepard and come back to me. I love you."

She gave him a trembling smile and stroked the ribbing along the side of his face once before she stepped from his arms. "I love you as well, Kolyat." She turned from him and entered the docking bay doors. Less than an hour later he stood at the railing and watched the ship carry his wife from him and back into the war.

 

* * *

 

Shepard watched as the rest of her ground crew prepared to split up into their assigned teams to take on the Cerberus base. Hackett had warned her that as soon as she entered the Horse Head Nebula and attacked the Reapers would know. They didn't know what the response would be.

Joker was not too happy with her at the moment, ever since EDI had asked to go along the tensions between Shepard and her pilot were high. She quietly told him she would watch over EDI, but it was EDI's choice on whether to stay or to go with the crew. EDI chose to go. Cerberus had shackled her she had been a part of their systems and would have the best chance to override anything technical that Cerberus could throw at them. Joker finally relented and adjusted his hat before concentrating on his console again.

Shepard's team waited inside their shuttle, and when Joker gave the signal, Cortez launched them toward the base and their last fight with Cerberus. Shepard needed that last key that Cerberus stole so they could find the Catalyst and finish the Crucible. Then they could take back Earth.

  
**** Meanwhile on the Citadel ****

 

Kolyat sat at his workstation and tapped out a few reports as he waited for news from Shepard. It had only been one day since she'd left so he knew he might have a long wait.

"Kolyat? Why are you still here, son? Go on home; it's late," Bailey called from his office when he saw Kolyat's lamp still on.

"Just this one last report, sir, then I'll go."

Thirty minutes later Kolyat caught a skycar back to his apartment and tiredly waited for the lift to take him up to the twenty-second floor. By the time he made it, he was once again ready to rip the speakers from the ceiling.

As dinner heated in the warmer, he flipped on the holo-screen and watched the news on the only available channel; Citadel News Network. Same old shit with the same people whining about the same thing. He turned it off, ate then went to bed.

Several hours later he woke to the incessant blaring of the station-wide emergency alarm. He tried to contact C-Sec for an update and only received the warning broadcast on loop. They were under attack by the Reapers, and they had taken the station. All C-Sec and defense personnel were to gear up and defend the civilians.

"Shit," Kolyat ran to the closet and entered the personal code for the hidden weapons and armor locker that Thane had built. He reached in and pulled out the armor case that had Kolyat's name stamped into the metal. He opened it to reveal the set of navy and teal battle armor that his Father had tailor-made just for him after they had sat and Thane told him everything about the Reapers that the Council had hidden or lied about. Kolyat slipped into the special leather and flexible, cloth-like protective metal suit and synced the systems with his omni tool. He attached his weapons and added a thigh pouch to carry extra heat sinks in before picking up the drell specific breathing mask. He tried to get in touch with Bailey over a personal line as he closed the locker door.

When Bailey finally answered he gave Kolyat a brief rundown and Kolyat sent him a location of a safe house of Thane's on the Zakara Ward. "Sir, I'm heading out, and I'll work my way to that location. If it looks like we can't hold the Reapers at bay get as many of our people that you trust to that location and hope that the Reapers haven't indoctrinated them."

"Roger that, Kolyat. Just get your ass here, this place is crawling with the ugly bastards. And watch out for the ones that look like mutated floating asari, those bitches can teleport and kill you in an instant. We lost three men to one of those fuckers."

Kolyat picked up one of the to-go bags from inside the closet then ran down to the office. "Glyph? Update this OSD with your current program, and make it fast." As soon as he heard the beep and the OSD ejected, Kolyat stuffed the disk into his bag and ran out the door. Glyph secured it behind him and began to execute the security protocols that Shepard installed in it for the safekeeping of the apartment from Reapers and vandals. Everything was sealed, and barriers went up then its systems shut down until it was in standby mode to conserve the remaining power.

Within hours of making it to the Zakara ward, they knew the remaining C-Sec personnel would never be able to protect the entire station from the Reapers. Bailey called for the remaining forces to fall back and protect the Zakara ward. One of the civilian survivors they had picked up along the way was none other than Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani. Bailey and several of the C-Sec officers had run into her as they fought to make it from the C-Sec HQ on the Presidium. The report that she could give them said the Reapers had concentrated on that ward the most.

"That's because of the Council and the quick access to all the other wards it has. We got to move and get to the safe house of Shepards. Jilani, do you still have broadcasting capabilities?" Bailey asked as they made their way through the alleyways and around buildings trying to get to the location.

"Yes, although I'm not sure it will do a hell of a lot of good right now. I doubt people will be watching the news."

"Doesn't matter, all we need is to keep you safe so you can broadcast a location for the survivors and remaining military and armed people can get to. We need to set up a defense point, and it'll be easier to defend one ward than it will be to try and save the entire station."

They kept running and Jilani tripped over a broken piece of pipe. When she stood up, she gasped and pointed to the artificial sky, when Bailey looked up he saw the arms start to close. They began to run faster.

It seemed like their small group had fought for an eternity. Only a hundred or so C-Sec, military or Citadel Defense personnel had made it to the ward to try and hold off the horde of Reapers that were still on the station. They had broken up into several small groups each taking turns at being the lookout, fighting and resupplying the lines. Even Khalisah had helped by dropping off fixed heatsinks and small pouches of water and food. They had ended up having to fall back to protect the apartment complex instead of the entire ward. Khalisah had been looping the location broadcast, and many survivors had filtered in. Kolyat and Bailey had overridden many of the apartments security panels and after clearing them had started to assign them to the survivors. If people were inside their apartments, they told them to remain there and conserve their food and water.

Kolyat and Bailey were sitting on the floor outside the small apartment that Thane owned as they tried to get in an hour or so of rest. "Son, I don't even want to know how your Dad smuggled in so many weapons or how he had his own heatsink repair machine, I'm just happy he did."

"You and me both, Bailey. I'm glad I consolidated all this stuff into one apartment per ward, at least we have enough supplies here to hold out for a few days and not having to thin ourselves out by doing runs all over the ward."

"You have one of these places on each ward?" Bailey asked, and Kolyat nodded.

"Yeah, if we have to move we can get to the next place, and it has the same supplies there too."

The two of them had just closed their eyes to catch a bit of sleep when Khalisah came running toward them. "Commander Bailey, I just received word from an associate. They were able to get some information through the Citadel's security system, don't ask how because I don't know, but look at this. Look at what's happening outside of the Citadel."

Reaper ships and thousands of other ships, everything from Turian Dreadnaughts to Vorcha fighters filled the area outside the Citadel. But what caught Bailey's eye was their change in location.

"Holy fuck... we're not in the Widow system anymore. The Reapers moved us to the Sol system. We're in orbit above Earth. Is this a live feed or a recording?" Bailey looked at the feed again as he asked the question.

"It's a live feed from one of the few remaining outside cameras," Khalisah said as she sat beside them on the floor.

Kolyat drew in a harsh breath as he spotted the ship that had just flown past the camera and blew an Occulus out of the air. "Shepard. That was the Normandy."

It hadn't even been an hour later when the whole station shuddered, and they looked up to see the arms opening and the rest of the survivors got their first view of what was happening outside the station.

What seemed like unending hours of fighting, getting an hour or two of sleep and trying to get some form of nutrition into the fighters later,  they heard a different sound coming from the station's emergency broadcasting system. A voice that sounded suspiciously like EDI sent a warning to get into cover; something called the Crucible just activated. No one else knew what the Crucible was and Kolyat yelled to get inside the building and into the secure rooms. He no sooner slammed the door shut and activated the barriers of his apartment when a blast shook the Citadel.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. There will be a few more chapters until this story comes to its conclusion. 
> 
> A quick reminder, this story is not proofread or beta'd by another and any mistakes are purely my own. I have tried to improve my grammar and punctuation to make it easier to read.
> 
> To those that have continued to read this story, thanks for sticking with it. The comments, kudos, and subscriptions are highly appreciated,

* * *

 

 

She was awash with pain. How was she even still alive? Shepard knew she should be dead or soon would be. She listened to the lies the vision spoke. Her mind had been fuzzy at first then it had become clearer the longer the thing talked circles using it's broken and flawed logic. It had chosen to appear to her in the form of a child, and not just any child but the one she saw outside her window on Earth right before the Reapers attacked. One that had mysteriously been able to make it to the locations she was headed and make it there unscathed and unassisted. Impossible. No one but her had even noticed the kid.

The hologram had offered her choices. Every single one was flawed in some way and not a real choice. The first was the destruction of the Reapers, but according to the hologram, it would cost them all their technology and Geth along with EDI. They would die and since she was partially synthetic she too would die.

Then came the control choice. The one, the Illusive Man thought he could handle. He thought he could control them; he thought he could use them, but he was weak and wrong. To try and wrestle control of the Reapers and keep it would be impossible. The Reapers were wiping out everything, and everyone and the galaxy forces were barely holding on. Who would be strong enough to watch her? Who would have the strength to stop her if her will faltered even for the briefest of seconds. She was strong willed to have gotten this far, but to have her consciousness controlling the Reapers and to have to watch her friends die; their children die, and entire civilizations die over and over. She doubted anyone could handle that.

The apparition had become excited when he told her of Synthesis, how it was the culmination of everything of organics and synthetics strove for; it was the final evolution. Her mind thought back to Saren, the bastards had indoctrinated him and implanted him with cybernetics, with Reaper tech, until he was barely even organic anymore. They had even replaced his skeleton at some point. Then there was the Reaper they were building that looked like a giant human, they had murdered countless humans and used their genetic material to pump it into the thing. And the final insult was when it had said she had been the only one to make it that far and all she had to do was jump into the beam to end the harvest finally. All she had to do was play God and merge every living and synthetic organism. Without their consent, against their will and take away their natural evolution.

Then she could simply do nothing and let the Reapers complete the harvest and hope in fifty thousand years the next sentient beings would actually heed the warnings that were left for them and stop the harvest before it even began.

All of it sucked, and all of it was meant to end her life, one way or another, and she wouldn't know if the choice she made even mattered. She came here to stop the Reapers. She heard and saw bits and pieces of memories float in her mind as she had taken step after step, shot after shot and she prayed to Arashu and Kalahira. She asked for forgiveness for her sins and also for them to forgive Kolyat's. Then came the final shot when the conduit finally broke, and red-hot fire bathed her.

She was in total darkness, and she couldn't move her legs or one arm, her chest hurt and the HUD of her helmet wasn't functioning. She knew that once again she would die alone. She closed her eyes and prayed for the strength of mind to hold her sanity together until she took her last breath.

 

* * *

 

Shepard woke once again; she didn't know how much time had passed. But this time the sun was bright on her face, she had no pain and... was that the ocean she heard?

She felt someone next to her slightly shift in the sand and jerked her head to the side. A pair of emerald green eyes looked down at her and she smiled.

"You are finally awake, Siha," Thane said as he smiled down at her.

"Thane, is this Kalahira's shore? If it is, I suppose I died. Do you know what happened after I shot the hell out of that red conduit?" Shepard asked as she sat up and leaned in for a kiss. She noticed she wore a gauzy top and skirt and not the armor that she had died in.

Thane's lips touched hers gently and she sighed. "This is a small island between the world of mortals and the shore. You are not dead, my love. You are in-between worlds right now. This is a place for you to rest and be free of pain. The Gods have granted you a reprieve of sorts and a gift. They have sent me here to be with you and to explain their gift. "

Shepard laid back in the sand and stretched as she grinned. Thane laid beside her and propped his head on one of his hands as the other traveled her body. "Listen well, Siha. They offer you a choice. First, know that you are indeed very close to death and your final act of the war obliterated the Reapers, but it left behind the destruction of most technology and that includes the Mass Relays. Most of the galaxy's forces were able to flee the Sol system, but so many were trapped there. As for Earth, there are many survivors Siha, thanks to the combined effort. The same goes for most of the other worlds, though some have been fully devastated."

"What about the crew? The Normandy?" Shepard asked as she turned toward him and ran her hand over his scaled body, enjoying his touch and touching him. "Kolyat, oh Gods is he alright? Is he here or still alive?"

"The fate of the Normandy is unknown to me, Siha. The Citadel also suffered much damage. There were far fewer survivors than I thought there would be, Kolyat lives, though he is also badly hurt. The people there began to ban together to try and get one of the clinics into serviceable condition to begin treatments and believe it or not Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani not only survived, but was the one to help stop Kolyat's bleeding. She also kept a broadcast going through the entire war to try and reach as many Citadel residents as she could to get them into safe areas and she helps to direct people on what she calls scavenger hunts for anything they could use to keep them alive until help comes."

"Guess it's a good thing that I didn't punch her that last time during the so-called interview, she may have felt differently about helping him. Tell me about these choices."

"The first option is to pass beyond this place and swim for the shore, you will sever your mortal bonds and join me to wait for Kolyat's time of arrival. The second choice is the most difficult path; to live. To return to the mortal realm and try to rebuild and not just the homeworlds and colonies, but your life and Kolyat's as well. It will not be easy Shepard. I will not lie to you; your mortal body lies broken and torn. With the remaining level of technology, it will be unlikely that the Doctors will be able to completely heal you; even with the implants in your body that remain functional."

Shepard frowned and continued to stroke his shoulders and arms. She looked into his eyes and saw calmness and love. "How long do I have before I need to make a decision?"

Thane looked out over the sea for a moment then back at her. "You have a short while yet before they discover your body. At that time your choice will need to be made."

She nodded and gave him a crooked grin. "In that case, we have enough time for this," she said as she tugged his head down to meet hers.

 

* * *

 

"Kolyat you need to lay still, damn it," Khalisah said for what she swore was the millionth time. "You'll break open those stitches if you don't and we need all the supplies we have for everyone coming in. I don't want to have to use another pack for a hard-headed drell that should know better."

"I can't lay here; I'm fine. I need to find my wife. I need to find Shepard," Kolyat hissed between clenched teeth as he tried to sit up.

"Will I have to hit you over the head with a piece of broken plasti-steel? Lay your ass back down in that bed. I've told every group that's going out to search for survivors, and that includes that brutish Marine you're married to. If they find her, we'll know, but it won't do her any good to survive this war only to find out you died from being a damn hard-head."

Kolyat flopped back on the bed with a groan and closed his eyes. His prayers since they pulled him from the rubble of the apartment building were almost always the same, asking for forgiveness for his wife and himself, asking for the strength for him to be able to survive if Shepard didn't and the hope that both Thane and she would be waiting for him. Most of his prayers asked for Shepard to found alive. They had so little time together, but he couldn't help wanting more; he wanted years and years with her outside of war and battles.

As he prayed the exhaustion and pain became too much and he passed out.

 

* * *

 

Shepard laid in Thane's arms as he stroked her stomach. She sighed and he gave her another long kiss before he touched her hair gently.

"It is time Siha. We must dress and you must be ready with your choice, we have but a few moments more; the search and rescue team is near your location."

Shepard sat up and hesitantly reached for her scattered clothing, not sure what good dressing would do anyway. "I don't want to leave you again Thane, but I also don't want to leave Kolyat alone. We've just really begun to have a true marriage. We've just started to experience a sliver of what you and I had."

"Have faith, Siha. You know he cares for you greatly. The war is finally over and rebuilding will begin and he will need you; you will need each other."

Thane glanced back toward the sea and blinked. "It is time, my love. The Gods want your decision. Do you come with me and swim to the far shore or will you return? And don't worry, whenever you accept death you will be welcome there and I shall be waiting for you."

Shepard reached over and brushed a quick kiss on his lips and glided her fingertips down his cheek frill and the deep, wine-red coloring of his ribbing. "I think there is still more for me to do yet. And I think Kolyat will need me; at least for a short while. I'm going to miss you so much, but knowing you're here waiting for me will make the time away from you slightly more bearable. I love you Thane and I always will."

"And I love you as well, my Siha. I shall be watching over you both." He turned once more toward the sea after they stood. "It is time. Farewell, my love. Until we reunite on the shore."

Thane faded away as after a brief kiss and Shepard bent down and screamed in pain as she returned to her body.

 

* * *

 

"She's alive. Quick, stop that bleeding and get her something to knock her out so we can get her out of there!"

Shepard heard someone shouting then felt nothing more as she sank into blackness.

 

* * *

 

Khalisah leaned on the wall outside of the small room that was set aside for the injured. The latest group had just returned and brought Shepard back... what remained of her. The condition that the Commander was in had even her nearly passing out and shedding many tears. How was she to tell Kolyat that they found his wife, but it was unlikely that she would survive?

The reporter smoothed a hand down her rumpled and dirty dress before she walked through the doorway.

Kolyat's eyes flicked up from reading one of the reports that Bailey had given him about the conditions that C-Sec were working under. What remaining forces they had were split between helping to locate and rescue survivors and stopping the worse elements from looting and stealing from the stores and other people. The last note told him that he was sorely needed and as soon as he was healed to come back to work. He frowned when he noticed the reporter hesitated to enter the sick room.

The longer she stood there, the longer he stared at her and finally, comprehension dawned. "You found her? You found Shepard, didn't you? Help me up, so I can go to her." He started to struggle and heard several of the other injured people whisper his wife's name.

"Kolyat... you can't. She's in surgery now." She placed a hand on his shoulder as he kept trying to get up. "You should lay there and try to rest while they work on her, there isn't anything you can do for her." She squeezed her hand as she talked to him and he looked into her eyes and saw tears there.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Kolyat... Kolyat, where they found her seemed to be the epicenter of the blast. She's alive, somehow, but barely. I saw her when they rushed her to the facility," she took a deep breath and blinked back the tears, "it didn't look good, Kolyat."

"Damn it, she's my wife; I need to be there... either way. I have to Khalisah. Help me, please."

The reporter sighed in frustration then slid an arm around his waist and helped him to stand while calling out for one of the others to help them.

 

* * *

 

They had made a pallet for Kolyat to lay on across several of the empty waiting room chairs. He watched listlessly as more and more volunteers helped to clear the rubble and begin the repairs as best they could. No one had seen a keeper other than reports of bodies littering the tunnels and since not a single race had bothered to figure out how to maintain anything on the station they were at a loss on how to get the systems up and running again.

There was an announcement made earlier that several ships from Earth and ones that were salvageable from the space around the Citadel were docking to try and begin repairs and scavenge for food and other supplies. He had laid there waiting for word from the second round of doctors that were working on Shepard to give him some type of news. The salarian doctor that had come out the first time told him that his group did what they could to stabilize her. The group that was with her now would try to repair what they were able to and try and get her cybernetics back online. Then a decision would need to be made on a few major injuries.

Kolyat turned his head to watch several quarians push a beat-up cart on wheels that had crates and boxes stacked on it through one of the doors. Several humans and a few turians that were carrying more crates followed them. Bailey talked to one of the human males in armor and pointed toward him before they both hurried over to talk with him.

Kolyat struggled to sit up before Bailey pushed him back down. "Stop that boy. Now listen up, this is Major Coats, and he was a ground team member that was part of Hammer forces. He's one of the few to survive what they did down there. He rounded up what he could in the way of working technology and he sent out a call to others to come and help. When he mentioned Shepard, he had more volunteers than what he could handle. The ones you saw going back there all had medical experience, and those quarians were able to get some of the technology working again. They've been working round the clock to try and get more online and to repair the few food bearing ships remaining in the Sol System."

Major Coats looked down at the blue drell laying on a pile of blankets that looked like they were no better than rags. "The quarians were able to bring the medigel dispensers and some of the nutri-paste replicators online. It's not a lot, but at least the dextro's won't starve while they repair the relay. Bailey says you're married to Commander Shepard?" Coats looked him over again.

Kolyat blinked then the humans heard a low growl coming from him. "Boy, he didn't mean nothing by it," Bailey said as he crossed his arms and saw a flash of life finally coming back into Kolyat's eyes.

"She's my wife. We've been married for months and it's all legal. I don't care what you humans think about the marriage. I don't give a varren's ass about your human views on her marrying me right after the death of her first husband, my Father."

Bailey sighed and shook his head. "Kolyat you're as stubborn as ever. That's not what he wanted to talk about. Now shut up and listen."

Kolyat crossed his arms and let out a huff.

"I wanted to say that the group you saw heading through those doors brought supplies to help her. The quarians were medics and between them and the turian engineers they were able to build a set of working machines for repairs of cybernetics. The medics used it on their own people successfully, and when the news about Shepard's condition reached them, they hurried to build another and bring it here. According to them, it should bring her self-repair cybernetics back online, although they did tell me to warn you that it would not repair the worst of the damage done to her, only to repair the minor injuries. They and a few of the remaining salarians have worked to get as much of the more advanced medical equipment back online as they can."

Kolyat stared at the Major then blinked. "Oh... well, thank you and give my thanks to them. When she wakes up she'll want to know about what happened and about her people. Has there been any news on the Normandy? All we could find out was Admiral Hackett," Kolyat growled out the name, "called for the fleets to escape back through the relays when the Crucible was armed."

Major Coats' eyebrow rose at Kolyat's mention of the Crucible. "There has been no response from them. It shouldn't be surprising though since the Reapers destroyed the comm buoys and we have no way of knowing where they exited the relay at."

Kolyat grunted then went back to watching the doorway into the surgical area of the clinic.

 

* * *

 

"Kolyat? Kolyat, wake up," Khalisah whispered as she gently shook him. Kolyat's eyes popped open and she gave a startled yelp before calming back down. "I hate it when you do that. The doctor just told me that Shepard is out of surgery. No one can see her yet as they have to keep her in a sterile isolation unit. The burns were severe, and the few pieces of healthy skin they could salvage from her is able to be cloned, thanks to those quarians. The doctor said he would be back to talk to you after he rests, they had worked through the night on her." Khalisah handed him a small packet of medigel. "Here, I swiped this from one of the working dispensers they had sitting on a cart."

Kolyat nodded and tore open the packet after removing his jacket; he sighed with relief as he spread the cool, healing gel along the jagged tear in his side and watched as the stitches dissolved and the still tender wound closed up as the scales started to regrow.

 

* * *

 

An hour later the salarian came rushing into the room and handed Kolyat a datapad. "This contains a listing of what has been repaired or still needs surgery to repair. We need your decision on several things. Her left leg was repairable. Her right crushed beyond repair through regular surgery or cybernetic implants. We removed it. We were able to heal her right arm completely. Her left hand was missing when she was brought in. The quarians made a new one. Her jaw has been reset and will repair on its own. We have to replace the cybernetic eyes. The quarians can't match the original color. You need to choose from those listed. Skull fractures were repaired, and brain scans came back within normal range." The salarian stopped to take a breath before he cleared his throat. "The spinal injury she suffered is nonrepairable at this time. If we had all of the working technology we could have repaired it."

"You're saying she won't be able to walk?" Kolyat teetered and the salarian sat him down on a nearby chair.

"Correct. Nor will she feel anything from the waist down. As the technology advances back to where it used to be then, we can start repairing it and she can start to learn to walk again. It will be a long process and we do not know how long it will take to get everything back technology wise."

"But if you can replace her eyes, hand and leg surely you can fix the rest."

"Spinal cord is complicated. Many nerves and receptors, too delicate a process without the specialized machines. Her hand and eyes will function normally; her leg will not because of the location of the severed cord. It is for cosmetic reasons only at this time. A new medical team is busy working on the rest of the injuries. They began attaching the new skin weave and the cloned skin along with the replacement musculature. She will remain in the hospital for at least six months under sedation. After that, we shall remove the sedatives and hope that we can repair more of her injuries in the meantime."

"When can I see her?"

The salarian stood up and looked down at him. "One month. Maybe two before Shepard is out of isolation. We will send updates. Go home. Rest and start to prepare for her to come home. This will not be easy for either of you."

Kolyat sat in the waiting room chair with his head bowed and tears running down his face before finally standing and walking toward the clinic doors. It was time for him to see what had happened to their home, to try and prepare it and himself for Shepard's return.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take a moment to thank all of the readers, the commenters, and the kudo leavers. I appreciated everything and am glad to know that you gave this story a chance. Enjoy.

* * *

 

Kolyat ran the security program on the apartment's door panel. This section of the ward was lucky enough to have only minimal structural damage since it was far enough away from the Presidium ring to be less of a target when the Reapers hit and also the shockwaves had lessened from the blast by the time it reached the outer section of the arm. The building owner's son was the new management and brought in several generators to keep the security systems and elevator running. He encouraged Kolyat to buy a small one for their own use since the power drain was already outrageous because of the other tenant's uncontrolled use of lights and equipment. The manager had sent a message to everyone that the power would be cut off for several hours a day to recharge the batteries and if they weren't happy about it to either turn off their stuff or buy their own generators until the Citadel restored general power.

When the door finally jerked open, he stepped inside and saw the destruction. He had to admit he saw worse outside the area, but seeing their fish tank broken with the rugs below it ruined and Shepard's prized fish dead, hurt worse than the wound he received from the shattered window of the apartment he had taken refuge in during the blast. He started to gather the debris and take stock of what needed immediate repair and what could wait until later.

He removed one of the small solar generators from the storage closet, hooked it up to the special outlet, ran the cords for the panel to the large windows, and propped the solar collector against it. A few minutes later he heard a soft whirring sound as Glyph powered back up and ran general diagnostics. The VI's programmed voice began to stutter and flicker in and out. Kolyat slipped the backup OSD into the terminal and uploaded it, overwriting the corrupted data. Once that was done and Glyph rebooted, he was back to normal and sent an updated structural repair list to Kolyat's omni tool.

The months of repairing the apartment along with his job at C-Sec began to take a physical toll on Kolyat. He didn't worry about credits or nutrition; he had plenty stored in the apartment, and two of the other four apartments made it through unscathed. He would spend a few hours a night removing everything from them and carting it all back to their apartment. The first few times that desperate looters tried to rob him, the flash of his C-Sec badge had to be backed up by the firing of his pistol. Unfortunate but necessary in the time right after the blast. Now with the geth and quarians working to get the food replicators completely fixed and scrounging up scrap metal and parts to sell to people to begin their own repairs things calmed down and very slowly began to return to normal.

It took four months and not the original estimation of two before Shepard was ready to come out of her coma. Kolyat dreaded the next few moments when she came awake and would be disoriented before the questions would start. Questions he wasn't sure he could answer.

"Are you ready Mr. Krios? Over the next six months, she will be medicated for her pain. She may or may not remember anything that happened to her. We will assess the situation and adjust the medications and psychotherapy as needed. After her release, she will need to have physical therapy and continue to see her private doctor and psychiatric specialist for PTSD. After a trauma such as the one, she has undergone she will need to see one. She will say nothing is wrong that she is fine. She will not be. But with proper care and treatment she will be able to cope better," the salarian doctor informed him and injected a liquid into Shepard's IV line when Kolyat nodded to him. It took less than thirty minutes for the solution to work and Shepard began to awaken.

 

* * *

 

First came a sound of a machine beeping then there was the stringent smell of disinfectant that told her she was in a medical facility. No hum of the drive core or subtle shift of the dampeners. She wasn't on the ship but either planetside or on the Citadel... wait. She frowned as a fleeting thought came to her mind. Something about the Citadel and pain.

"Shepard? Shepard, can you hear me?" a soothing voice that held distinctly dual tones said from near her. Thane? No, Thane was dead; she knew that. Her heart gave a lurch, and the machines gave a short warning sound before a different voice with clipped tones told her to try to stay calm.

The one with the same clipped tones told her to take her time and when she was ready, then open her eyes; but above all she needed to remain as calm as possible.

Her head felt like someone stuffed it with cotton. Her thoughts were fuzzy, but she fought the feeling and started to self-assess. Shepard realized that pain management drugs flooded her system because she couldn't feel her legs or move her arms. If they were using the good stuff it must be bad, she thought.

Before she opened her eyes, she moaned and asked how bad.

"Shepard, it's Kolyat. The doctors need you to open your eyes... they have to check to make sure they are working the way they should."

She frowned. Her eyes? Why shouldn't her eyes work? She focused and began to force her eyelids to open. It was harder than she thought it would be to open her eyes. Finally, she saw an extremely dim room and a shadow next to her looked up and told the doctor her eyes were open. The light slowly became brighter and blinked several times as she focused on the shadow that took on the form of her husband, Kolyat.

"Kolyat? What happened?" Her voice was weak, and the words cracked from disuse for an extended period but he heard her.

He smiled down at her and told her that they would explain everything she just had to have patience which caused her to click her tongue against her teeth.

The doctor brought over a machine and ran a few tests on her eyes and made a few minute adjustments which brought her vision into clearer focus.

"You can have another minute or two with your husband, but then we have to administer more medication that will put you back to sleep as you continue to heal, Commander. May I say, well done, and thank you for everything you've done for the galaxy." The salarian's lips curled into a slight smile that reminded her of Mordin before he took several steps away from her and began to enter information into a terminal.

"You had me so worried, my love, everything was chaos here. A live feed showed the Normandy and bits of the battle outside the station then communications went down, except for a lone signal here that somehow Jilani was able to keep going with help from a few of the C-Sec and Citadel Defense people that took refuge with us. You can not even begin to imagine my joy when they told me you would live. It was touch and go for a long time. That doctor is giving me looks, Shepard, it's time for me to go, but I'll be back tomorrow and every day. I can't wait to be able to bring you home." Kolyat leaned down and brushed a very gentle kiss on her lips before standing back up and taking a few steps back from the bed so the doctor could inject the medicine. He kept his eyes on Shepard's until her lids drooped and finally closed.

 

* * *

 

Kolyat arrived just as visiting hours began and hurried into the room. The salarian was already there and began to run several more tests as Shepard came slowly awake.

"Good morning, Commander," the doctor said and waited until her eyes fell on him before jotting down something on the datapad he held in his hand.

Kolyat stepped forward and gave her a warm smile. Shepard frowned when she couldn't move her hand to clasp his. "Doc? There's something wrong with my arms. I can't seem to move them or my legs."

Kolyat's smile faltered, and the doctor moved closer to the bed. "You've sustained damage to your extremities. We have blocked the nerves to keep your pain to a minimum. We shall go over the list of your injuries and the medical procedures that you had in a few days. There are still several tests that we need to run and adjustments to make to your care. Once I am sure that everything is proceeding and there are no more infections or operations needed we will inform you of every detail."

Shepard watched the doctor leave the room before her eyes sought out Kolyat.

"How bad was it? And don't give me that same bullshit, Kolyat."

He waited for a moment then heaved a sigh as he moved a chair closer to the bed and sat. "Bad. Real bad. The Citadel is still in orbit above Earth, and it's pretty much in ruins. Only a few areas and even fewer medical buildings made it. The first few months were hard. People turned to thievery and murder to survive until the quarians began to get more facilities and fabricators working. From what little I heard and could understand, most of the technology failed. They and other remaining engineers began to repair their ships and used the onboard fabricators and nutrient paste dispensers to help keep the turians and quarians from starving. The rest of us were able to salvage edibles from Earth until they could get a few things up and running here. Repair and rebuilding happen around the clock now. The keepers are gone. Every single one is dead, and no one knows how to get all the normal functions of the Citadel running again."

Shepard coughed several times. "That's because the Citadel is a Reaper device. It's a trap here, Kolyat. They built it and put the keepers here to run it so efficiently that no one ever bothered to delve into it much. No one needed to figure it out. Why learn about it when everything is done for you. The council knew about this. I told them a long time ago, and it was just one more thing that they hid from everyone. How long?"

"How long what?"

Her gaze grew cold. "How long since I fired the Crucible and what happened afterward?"

Kolyat sighed and ran a hand over his scaled head. "Over six months now. You've been in a coma the entire time. The blast destroyed most of the relay network. The repairs are slow as is replacing the communications networks. They've got the ones to Thessia and Palaven running, and they've suffered heavy casualties as well. The rebuilding of Palaven is ahead of Thessia. The asari... they didn't prepare at all. They thought their planet would be secure against any threat. It's been almost completely obliterated. It's a good thing they live so long; it's going to take them hundreds if not thousands of years to get back to even the basic level of habitability there. To top it all off... Khalisah "somehow" obtained a copy of a battle that concerned a beacon that the asari apparently hid on Thessia in a military secured temple. She's been all over the news networks blasting the asari leaders when it came to light that they had information that could have helped stop this whole thing a long time ago, but kept it hidden because they didn't want other races to know about it and the data it held.

"As far as the salarians are concerned, Sur'Kesh was untouched by Reaper forces. The Reapers left salarian space to converge on the Sol System. The salarians have been behind most of the medical care given on the Citadel and Earth.

"As far as anyone can tell, you stopped the Reapers. The Alliance has been busy dragging all of the Reaper corpses into the sun and gas giants as fast as they can. Clean up around the galaxy is going to be a bitch and it's going to take a while."

"How bad is Earth?"

Kolyat shifted. "Major Coats survived and came to see me. He said to tell you that Vancouver, London, the facility at Rhode Island, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Washington D.C., Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and about 40 other major metropolis areas were wiped out. The rebuilding of London is underway but will take years to accomplish, and almost all of the historical landmarks are gone. He mentioned a giant clock..." his eyes grew distant for a second, "Big Ben. It was still standing." Most of the desert towns were left alone; I supposed they were considered less inhabited and the Reapers were after the heavily populated areas."

"Kahje? What about your planet?" Shepard asked tiredly. He could see her eyelids begin to droop again.

"Safe. Completely unharmed, thanks to you. The automated system worked to keep the Reapers away, and honestly, I can't imagine what good making Reaper modifications on a water based lifeform would be. They wouldn't be of much use outside of oceans. And the drell are just too low in numbers to bother with." He reached out and brushed a few strands of hair away from her face as her eyes began to close.

Kolyat sighed and after making sure she was asleep he left the room and went to work.

 

* * *

 

"Stop coddling me, Kolyat. Tell me the extent of my fucking injuries. It's been a week since I woke up and no one will tell me a damn thing."

"Shepard, calm down, or they'll knock you out again. If you stop yelling, I'll tell you." Kolyat held up his hands in a pleading gesture and Shepard clamped her jaw shut.

"Remember that when they found you it was right after the explosion. You were at the center of the blast, and it was pure luck they found you at all. You were brought in with extensive injuries. Several broken bones, a broken jaw, and several skull fractures."

"That doesn't explain why I can't use my arms and legs and why no one will tell me why."

"For fuck's sake give me a minute. Your left leg suffered several breaks and some muscle damage; they fixed it. You just can't use it right now; that's all. They want to fix everything else first. Your right arm broke in three places; two were compound fractures and needed extensive work. They don't want you moving around too much still."

"Keep going. I know there's more because they would have just told me about that minor shit."

"Goddess sake, Shepard. Why can't you be satisfied with knowing they are working to fix everything. Why the hell do you need every fucking detail?" Kolyat growled at her then slammed the chair into the desk and walked out of the room.

 

* * *

 

When Kolyat walked into the hospital room, a cup came whizzing at him and hit him in the face. "What the fuck!"

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about my eyes and hand!"

"Your hand seems to work as does your eyes. If you had just waited, the doc would have told you everything, but you had to keep bitching and asking. You just couldn't let it be."

"And just when was your sorry ass going to tell me about my fucking leg being gone!" Shepard yelled as she ripped the covers off.

"The same fucking time I was going to tell you about being paralyzed!" Kolyat yelled back, and Shepard's jaw dropped. Her face turned ashen, and she stared at him in shock.

"What? What did you just say?"

Kolyat covered his face with his hands and berated himself for losing his temper and telling her when the psychologist told him she wasn't ready to hear it yet. "I said you're paralyzed from the waist down. The doctors told me that they didn't have the medical equipment necessary to repair your spine when you were first brought in. The medical devices are being made as quickly as they can be, but the military keeps issuing out orders about having priority over all technology recovery. The quarians had made your hand and eyes before the militaries had issued those orders. Now they're trying to build your leg and keep it from being... confiscated. In the beginning, we were lucky they could even produce your eyes. I did the best I could to choose a color for you since your beautiful eyes couldn't be cloned or replicated. They assured me that once they built the machine and can get it here they'll be able to repair your spine and you'll walk again. They just don't know how long it's going to take because everything else is taking priority right now." He walked over to the bed and covered her leg back up and adjusted the sheet.

Shepard leaned back in the bed and turned her head away from him.

"This changes nothing, Shepard. Nothing between us, at least. Major Coats told Bailey that there was scuttlebutt about discharging you from the Alliance with highest honors, but they are waiting for Admiral Hackett to get back to Earth. Apparently, his ship took the relay just before the blast and ended up near the Perseus Veil, it's taken him awhile to get the ship ready for returning with only FTL travel."

He had to listen closely because her voice was barely above a whisper but he caught the word, "Normandy."

"There hasn't been any word. I'm sure they are all fine. That crew of yours can handle anything."

 

* * *

 

"Kolyat!" Bailey yelled over the comm unit, his voice ringing louder in Kolyat's aural canals than the sound of the gunfire that was around him. He had to lead a team into the abandoned keeper tunnels to find a nest of mercs who stole much needed medical equipment from the Citadel docks that Earth desperately needed.

"A bit busy here, Commander," Kolyat yelled back as he ducked behind a stack of crates and swapped out his heatsink.

"Boy, hurry up and get that mess taken care of then get your ass over to Huerta. The doctor just called, Shepard's going apeshit and yelling that she's leaving the hospital today. She told them she was tired of being stuck there and would crawl out of the hospital if she had too. They didn't believe her; the nurse caught her belly crawling along the floor, and she almost made it to the elevator."

"Damn it! I really don't need this shit right now," Kolyat yelled then broke cover and started to fire at anything that wasn't a C-Sec officer. "How the hell did dad put up with her crap!" Kolyat yelled as he vaulted over a crate and shot a merc point blank in the helmet. "You fuckers just had to pick today to piss me off. I have to deal with my wife acting like a prisoner trying to escape from jail," --blam blam-- "and you jackasses steal medical equipment, and I've had to chase your asses," --blam-- "through the damn tunnels to get it back!" -- blam-- "On top of it all, I haven't had sex with Shepard for almost a year now!"

By the time Kolyat finished ranting and shooting everything, there were no mercs left to arrest.

 

* * *

 

Kolyat pushed the hover-chair through the docking bay heading toward Bay D-24. Shepard kept fiddling with a colorful blanket that she draped over her lap. A thankful survivor had made it for her when she learned Shepard had made it through the war, but her injuries left her conscientious about her legs and confined to a chair. They had received news that morning of a patrolling group of turian ships spotting the Normandy limping its way toward the Citadel, and Shepard insisted that Kolyat take her to the docks.

Kolyat noticed that the dock area was empty of everyone but Alliance military and a few medics. They soon found out why as the coffins started to be offloaded. Shepard choked back her tears as one floated past her with the symbol of the Chief Medical Officer on it. Kolyat's hand gripped her shoulder and squeezed lightly as more silver, bullet-shaped coffins floated past.

Gabby accompanied one with the Corp of Engineers symbol on the top, stopping only long enough to salute then hug Shepard before hurrying to stay with Donnelly's coffin.

Several more came out then Kolyat heard Shepard say, "No...no...no," as she gasped and started to shake. He looked up and saw Garrus and Liara carrying another coffin with a purple and silver scarf draped across it. Garrus' mandibles flicked and both Liara, and he gripped Shepard's hands and promised to stop by and tell her everything that happened.

"Just tell me how we lost Tali."

Garrus swallowed and tried to control his sub-harmonics,"When the Crucible fired we lost EDI and Joker had to pilot the Normandy without her exact guidance help. The blast started to overload the engines, and when we hit a relay, we crashed on an uncharted planet. There was a rupture and one of the vents in Engineering malfunctioned. It vented inside the room. The blast killed both Donnelly and Tali. Gabby only survived because she was in the med bay trying to help the injured when Doctor Chakwas died on impact. I have to go, Shepard. I need to contact the Quarian Admiralty Board... if it even still exists, I'll be by the apartment as soon as I can. I'm glad to see you made it."

"I'm glad you did as well, Garrus, and I'm sorry for your loss," Shepard said as she gripped his three-fingered hand.

"It's your loss too, Shepard." He squeezed her hand then Liara told her she would be by that evening then lifted one end of Tali's coffin and the two of them followed the others toward several vehicles.

 

* * *

 

"Shepard, didn't Liara tell you that she would do her best to make sure you get the cybernetic leg as soon as possible? I know it's been rough... for both of us. But her contacts on Rannoch said it would be ready soon, and she also said that since she was able to get her network up and running again that she forwarded them those schematics for the spinal repair machine. It shouldn't be but a few more months," Kolyat said to her as he watched her lifting weights to get her upper body strength back while another machine used electrical impulses to stimulate the muscles in her remaining leg.

"Yeah, but damn it. I've been out of the hospital for almost six months. The damn war has been over for almost two years now, Kolyat. I'm still waiting while some of these damn politicians keep making stupid, shitty mandates about cybernetics and synthetic replacements."

"They just want to ensure it's not going to turn into what happened with Saren and the whole hologram thing trying to manipulate you into forcing a merge between synthetics and organics, like what you said they did with Saren and his "upgrades" and what they had done with the Prothean... Collectors, whatever, with replacing their organic organs with tech over and over again. At least they believed you about what happened when you activated the Crucible."

Shepard snorted and upped the weight amount. "It only took... four years... and countless lives and losing several planets... for them to open their eyes."

Kolyat grabbed for the weights and took them from her. She cocked an eyebrow at him before picking up the towel that hung off the arm of the chair she sat on and wiped her face and neck.

He crouched in front of her and leaned in to kiss her. She jerked away then sighed when she saw his face turn from her and look down.

"It's been two years since we've been together. The doctors said it's safe for us to have sex, Shepard. Why do you turn from me every night? Why won't you make love with me anymore?"

Shepard unconsciously rubbed her thumb against the artificial thumb of her other hand and her eyes flicked down at the ground. Kolyat didn't move, only shifted to kneel and wait for her to answer. After several more minutes, she looked into his eyes and muttered that she didn't think she could satisfy him anymore. With her not being able to use her leg or move her waist they would be unable to have sex like they used to; unable to do the things that had given him the most pleasure.

He leaned forward and after tucking a loose strand of hair behind her eyes nudged her head up slightly and pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. "I can understand your worries, Shepard. But you are my wife, and I love you. We can't know how your injuries will affect that part of our marriage unless you're willing to try and trust me. I also worry about not being able to please you, but I'm more than willing to do whatever I can to make you happy."

He took her hands in his and waited again. His thumbs were brushing along the knuckles. It seemed an eternity to him before she chewed her lower lip and nodded. He didn't waste any time in standing up and lifting her from the chair. He had carried her so often from their bedroom and into the bathroom or down the stairs that it seemed to have been only a blink of her eyes before he sat her down on the bed and began undressing.

Her eyes moved over his body hungrily and for a brief second lingered on the foot long scar that discolored his side. Though healed, the scar was several shades lighter than the skin and scales around it and curved from just under his one rib to his abdomen. He had been lucky that it hadn't punctured any of his internal organs and they were both lucky that he had taken the time to make sure the safe house had been stocked with medi gel. Khalisah had told her that he insisted the others be healed as much as possible with the supplies before himself, they had only a tiny amount left and she had to use the medical stitching gun to hold him together.

"Does it bother you?" he asked as he stepped from his pants and stood before her naked and proudly aroused.

"No. It's a badge of courage. You fought and saved many lives while others locked themselves away and hoped that the monsters wouldn't find them."

"If my scars don't bother you why would you think yours would bother me? The injuries are a different type of scar, and they are nothing to be ashamed of. I love you; I want you; if you hadn't noticed." He smirked at her as he lightly drew one finger along his erection.

She let out a small laugh and stiffened a bit as he reached for the hem of the tank top she wore. "Shepard, if you are really not sure about this, tell me. I will stop, I don't want you to be uncomfortable. But I'm worried that if we don't try and remove this hurdle to our relationship that the wall will continue to build between us, even once you get the cybernetic leg and the spinal machine repairs the damage."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"If it doesn't it still won't change the way I feel about you, but the longer we wait, the harder it will become to move past this." He waited until she moved her hands and lifted the hem herself before he knelt beside her and began to remove her shoe and sock. It took longer than usual because he kept stopping to kiss her.

He eased her back along the bed until her head lay on her pillow and he moved beside her. He took his time caressing and kissing her, his hands stroking and teasing. He found areas on her body that were more sensitive and erotic to her than they had been before. Slowly she relaxed more, and he shifted to cover her, his lips never leaving hers as he raised her leg and wrapped it around his waist. He sank one thick finger into her and withdrew, he held it up to show her how wet she had become and she blinked. "We just had to find something you liked, and your body responded, my love." He kissed her again as he sank deeply into her with a groan.

His hands and mouth kept up their teasing on her body as he thrust inside her. Her nipples became so sensitive as he plucked at them which caused her to gasp and scratch her nails along his back. "Mmm, that's it. You like that don't you," he asked as he gently pinched a tight bud.

She started panting as he continued to play with her nipples. She cried out and making nail gouges on his back as he became rougher. She screamed his name as an orgasm washed over her when he bit the area between her neck and shoulder and pinched her nipple between his thumb and fused finger. His own was pulled from him when he felt her clamp around him, and the wave of heated moisture poured over his cock.

She held him tightly to her and cried. He whispered how much he loved her as he stroked her hair.

 

* * *

 

Three months later Garrus showed up at their door with a large parcel. "I've just returned from Rannoch. I felt I had to return Tali home myself. Admiral Shala'Raan was the only remaining Admiral from the board. She asked me to deliver this to you with the thanks of the Quarian people and her sorrowful condolences."

Kolyat brought over several bottles of alcohol, and they sat and stared at the box. Garrus asked what had happened on the Citadel during the final battle and what happened while the Normandy had been lost.

They told him everything and when she told him about the choices and choosing the one that not only destroyed the Reapers but the geth and EDI too he lowered his bottle.

"Shepard? EDI and the geth aren't destroyed. They were shut down, and it took the quarians a while to do it, but they've rebooted the geth programs. You said this hologram told you that if you chose to destroy that you also would be destroyed because of your cybernetic implants. Did you forget that the quarians have extensive cybernetic augmentation as well? If they are still alive and kicking as are you what made you think that EDI and the geth would be any different? Their bodies are machines but everything else is a program, highly sophisticated, but still software."

She sat in silence for the longest time then it was if a great weight had lifted from her and she gave him a smile. He briefly nodded before reaching over and unlatching the locks on the container. He opened the lid to reveal the cybernetic leg that was inside. "They did the best they could to match your skin tone. All you need to do it hold it against you where your leg would normally be. Then use the program on this OSD to sync it up, and it will attach itself to you with a mass effect barrier. Once the machine to repair your spine is completed, the doctors can hook up the cybernetics to your spine and sync it to your nervous system. They told me to tell you it should only be another month or two before it's done then transporting it here without the relays will take another two months."

He left a short time later, and it took Shepard another three bottles of beer before she told Kolyat she was ready. Less than an hour later her new leg was attached and an hour after that they were in bed.

 

* * *

 

 

Kolyat watched from the observation room as the salarian and quarian doctors began the process of regenerating Shepard's spine. The human doctors carefully monitored the progress and told the others when an adjustment needed to be made. The process was tiring for everyone, but after ten hours they applied the new skin weave and wheeled her into a recovery room.

They woke her three days later and began the testing phase. Two months later she was back home and slowly relearning how to walk.

 

* * *

 

The newly elected council members showed up at her door unexpectedly and offered her the position of a council member. She stared at them and laughed. "Your predecessors called me delusional. They wouldn't listen to me and look what happened. The interim council made it difficult for me and others like me to receive the necessary medical devices and procedures because they were cybernetics... not fucking Reaper tech... and now you come here to ask if I would join you? Why?"

The new turian councilor looked toward the others, and the asari delicately cleared her throat. Shepard prepared for whatever lie spewed from her mouth.

"The humans require a council member and the ambassador and your government suggested you. We agreed to come and present you the opportunity."

Shepard grinned, "Oh I'm sure you pushed for someone else to be elected." Her eyes flicked toward the salarian as he blinked and subtly shifted under her gaze.

The turian's mandibles fluttered, and he gave a very slight nod. "We did. I was against another candidate. You have shown bravery, a strong will, and you stayed true to your beliefs even through all of the adversity that came your way. I would welcome you to the council. Frankly, you would be the force that kept the council on track and hold us responsible for our actions... or inactions when it calls for it."

Shepard leaned back in her chair and rubbed her chin. "I'll give you my answer in a few days. But know this; if I accept this position, things will change. I have seen how corrupt some of the things the old council did was. How they turned a blind eye to certain things. And it will stop."

 

* * *

 

A week later Shepard, followed by Kolyat, entered the newly built Council tower and she took her place as the Human Councilor. Her first act was to push through galactic laws about the sharing of beacons. No longer would races horde the knowledge; it would be shared by all. Then to the disgruntlement of several remaining Spectres, she made them accountable for their actions. Expediency in keeping the stability for the Galaxy was one thing; high civilian casualties for the sake of that expediency was another. The krogans now had an embassy on the Citadel and was causing quite the stir among the other races. Shepard was known to step off the podium and headbutt the krogan ambassador when he started to get out of line. She talked the other councilors into once more extending an invitation to join the Citadel races to the Raloi once the scouting team had returned with news of their survival.

She kept the Council in line; she kept the ambassadors in line, and she kept an ear and eye open for any news of unexplained phenomena or disappearances.

 

* * *

 

It had been sixty years since the end of the war, many things had changed, yet it all seemed to remain the same. Shepard woke beside Kolyat, and he smiled the same devilish grin before it slid from his mouth. She frowned when she looked down and saw how faded his aqua scales had become.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing is truly wrong, my love, but there is something you should know. For the past week, the sounds and smell of the sea have become stronger; my time is growing shorter as the waves come nearer," Kolyat told her as he tucked a graying strand of hair behind her ear. "Soon it will be time for me to cross the sea and be with my mother and father again while awaiting the time for you to join us."

Several tears leaked from her eyes and she slowly nodded. "There is something that you should know then as well. After the Crucible had fired, I saw Thane. We were together for the briefest of time, and he assured me that he would be waiting for us both. It brought me comfort to be held by him once again."

Kolyat gave her a gentle smile and told her he was glad for her; for both of them to have had that moment together.

When she returned from a council meeting late that night, she found him in bed with a smile on his face. He had passed peacefully to the shore.

 

* * *

 

Shepard dressed for the evening's dinner with Primarch Vakarian. It had become something of a ritual between them. They didn't reminisce about the old days; they didn't bring up the shooting match on one of the Presidium's arches or her horrible driving when she was behind the wheel of the Mako. They spoke of anything and everything but the war and what led up to it.

"I'm growing tired, Garrus. We've seen so much, done so much, and the galaxy has come so very far since that day I blew it hell. I'm ready now. I want to see my family again. I want to be held and loved by Thane and Kolyat. I've known for a while now that it's time for me to let go."

Garrus twirled his wine goblet as he looked over at her and saw how tired and worn she looked. How her green eyes, now blue, had lost their inner sparkle. "I'm feeling it too, Shepard. We've done almost everything else together; I really can't see us not being too far apart when our times come. Just remember that promise you made me so long ago. Save me a seat at the bar; I'll save you one if I make it there first."

They held up their crystal glasses and a soft clink sounded.

Shepard died sitting at the desk in her council chambers after reading a report that had come to her from Kahje. A hundred years after the war and a cure for Kepral's had finally been found; the dwindling drell population now had a chance of recovery. She had just digitally signed the request to the Alliance to sign colonization rights over to the Drell race so they could have their own world when she heard her name whispered and smelled the sea. A sharp pain in her chest caused her to hiss; then she knew only darkness.

Two days after her funeral another was held on Palaven for their Primarch. Whispers of suicide were quickly crushed when the report of Garrus' autopsy came back. His heart stopped suddenly. Later it was discovered that the time of death was the same as Shepards. There had been no communication recorded from either office. Their hearts both stopped together. Liara was heard to whisper at his funeral that she understood, there was no Vakarian without Shepard and no Shepard without Vakarian. The closest and best of friends through life and beyond.

 

* * *

 

Shepard sat at the tiki bar with a tall drink sitting before her loaded with strong alcohol, fruit, and an enormous umbrella. She had just twisted her flaming red hair into a bun when a turian in blue and silver armor slipped onto the bar stool next to her; a blue sparkling drink appeared in front of him, and he raised it in a toast.

"To one last drink together before we head out to find those that are waiting for us," he said to her.

"Ahh, Garrus. This won't be our last drink. This is our bar; take a look around you."

Garrus swiveled the chair and chuckled when he saw Nihlus sitting with Saren at a table. Benezia was talking with several asari and Mordin sat at a different table that had seashells scattered on top of it. Legion was talking with Tali and Kal'Reegar. When Tali glanced over and saw Garrus, she squealed and came running toward him.

Samara and Zaeed were holding a discussion on a garishly colored piece of artwork while Joker sat in an overstuffed armchair with a human woman that looked an awful lot like EDI, lounging on the arm of it.

"This is our place, Garrus and we can come here whenever we want," Shepard said as she slid off the bar stool and patted his shoulder before walking into the arms of the blue and green drells who had stood patiently waiting for her to finish talking with Garrus so they could all go home.

*~* Fin *~*


End file.
